


The Distance Between Us

by mariekjepower



Category: Glee
Genre: Internalized Biphobia, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-16
Updated: 2014-05-16
Packaged: 2018-01-21 06:34:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 29,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1541162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariekjepower/pseuds/mariekjepower
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(AU after 4x22) After declining Blaine's proposal, Kurt finds comfort in talking with Mike and Quinn. In a short time, they grow closer than they have ever been. But things change when they all have to leave Lima to go back to their respective new homes. Especially when they miss each other more than they should miss people that are 'just friends'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Distance Between Us

**Author's Note:**

> Written as part of the Kurt OT3 Bang 2014. 
> 
> Art and [Fanmix](http://patchfire.livejournal.com/768189.html) by [Patchfire](http://archiveofourown.org/users/patchfire). Listen to the fanmix, it's wonderful. <3
> 
> My beta for this story is the amazing [Ash](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/4059576/), who helped me even when my request was kind of last minute.

 

Mike stands with a smile behind Mercedes and Kurt as they hug the newly wedded Mrs. Schuester together. It’s a great idea, in Mike’s opinion, that they married like this. Okay, so not everyone is there, but both Mr. and Mrs. Schuester look relaxed and really happy, a great difference from the last time they tried this.

Actually, everything is going good since he came back to Lima a few days ago. Choreographing for the New Directions is always fun, and so different from his current studies that it is a welcome break. Things aren’t at all awkward between him and Tina anymore, which is a great relief for both them and everyone around them. Working with the New Directions was no problem, and it actually worked out really well, as everyone has seen with their Regionals win.

Besides that, he also has a surprisingly lot of fun hanging out with Kurt and Mercedes. He always got along with them quite well, but life after High School is treating the both of them really well. Mercedes is growing a lot, being away from Lima and probably mostly due to being away from Rachel. There will always be a lot of competition in the music business, but not competing with the little diva and being able to do her own thing is really good for Mercedes. Mike is also really looking forward to working with her on her music video.

Kurt is also doing great in his opinion. He always was way too big for Lima and New York is being great for him. He’d been so happy to hear that Kurt had gotten into NYADA and that he’s able to follow his dreams. Kurt has also grown a lot. He doesn’t mean physically, though it’s easy to see that Kurt is a lot more comfortable with his body. But Kurt has grown mentally. A growth he has also noticed in himself. Of course, they’re both in schools with a lot of drama and divas, but they often share looks and roll their eyes at all the petty fights in the choir room and the hallways of McKinley High. It’s clear that Kurt is just as happy as he himself to be out of high school.

Mike shakes himself out of his thoughts and steps forward to hug Mrs. Schuester himself. “Congratulations,” he tells her as she returns his hug happily. As he steps back he sees the huge smile on her face.

“Thank you,” she says and the look in her eyes is still a bit incredulous. He smiles reassuringly at her.

“If anyone deserves to be happy, it’s you Mrs. Schuester.” If possible, her smile turns even brighter. Then her eyes look past him and go wide, well, wider than normal for her and a gasp escapes her mouth. Mike frowns and turns to see what she’s looking at. He can barely hold back a gasp himself. In the middle of the room, Blaine is down on one knee, in front of Kurt. In his hand is an open ring box.

“Marry me, Kurt,” Blaine says. There were a few happy squeals around the room from some of the girls, but as Kurt doesn’t answer a tense silence falls in the room.

“What are you doing?” Kurt asks quietly, though everyone can hear him.

“I’m asking you to marry me. I love you,” Blaine says, though the smile on his face is a bit more forced than before. As the silence stretches on again, he adds; “This is the part where you tell me yes, you know?”

“You’re serious,” Kurt says and though Mike can’t see his face, it’s clear to see that Kurt is really uncomfortable right now. Kurt shakes his head and takes a step back, away from Blaine. “Why are you doing this? We haven’t been together for months now.”

“We’re meant to be together,” Blaine says with conviction laced in his voice. “If it happens now or in ten years, we’re going to end up together and get married someday.”

“I told you I wanted to try to be friends again. Friends. Not boyfriends, nothing more.” Kurt shakes his head again. “You’ve clearly not been listening.”

“I have been listening. But we were together at Christmas and Valentine’s Day. That has to mean something. Especially Valentine’s,” Blaine tries to convince Kurt as he stands back up. He’s turning a bit red from the embarrassment of all of this happening in front of everyone.

“And how do you figure that?” Kurt asks with a scoff. “The only reason you were there for Christmas is because I didn’t tell my dad what you did. Because unlike you, I know how to keep private business, private. You don’t know how much it hurt me that you were there. I didn’t kick you out because my dad thought he did a good thing, bringing you with him.”

Mike frowns and as he looks around the room, he sees more confused faces. He exchanges a look with Mercedes but it is clear that she doesn’t know what Kurt is talking about. Turning his head he sees that Santana, who always knows everyone’s business and lives with Kurt, doesn’t have a clue either.

“I thought you forgave me for that,” Blaine says with an indignant tone to his voice.

“I did,” Kurt says, “I forgave you, but I didn’t forget.” He lets a tired sigh escape. “And I have to stop you here, before this becomes an even bigger mess. No matter what you’re going to say, I’m not marrying you.”

Once again it is so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Everyone looks a bit awkward and no one knows what to say. Mike sees that Kurt is shaking a little and makes a quick decision. He walks towards Kurt, taps Mercedes on her shoulder on the way and wraps his arm around Kurt’s shoulder.

“Let’s get out of here,” he says softly before leading Kurt out of the room. As he hears more footsteps following than expected, he looks back to see not only Mercedes, but also Santana and Brittany following them. Brittany speeds up to walk on Kurt’s other side and grabs his hand, holding on as they walk to the parking lot in silence. Mike looks sideways at Kurt to see that his jaw is clenched and his eyes are… well, stormy. There is no other word for it. If he didn’t know that Kurt is a non-violent person, he would be afraid that he would turn back around to break Blaine’s nose. He slightly picks up his pace to create as much distance as possible between Kurt and the choir room.

As they pass the front doors, Kurt shakes his head with a disbelieving look on his face. “Why on earth did he think that was a good idea?” he wonders out loud, more a rhetorical question than anything else. Mike at least doesn’t have an answer, and the girls don’t know what to say either. Eventually Mercedes shrugs.

“I don’t know, boo,” she says softly, “I doubt that even Blaine himself had thought this through completely. If he had, he would have known that this was a bad idea, right?”

“Oh, the hobbit was certain this was a great idea, I’m sure of that. Big gestures in front of an audience, it’s right up his alley,” Santana spits out.

They stop walking when they arrive at Mercedes’s mom’s car, which Mercedes used to drive Kurt, Mike and herself to McKinley. “Do you want to go somewhere?” Mercedes asks. “I mean, other than the obvious way out of here. That much I figured so just say the word and I’ll drive you there.”

“All the way to New York?” Kurt asks, letting go of Brittany’s hand and Mike squeezes his shoulder once more before letting go so Kurt can turn around and raise his eyebrow at Mercedes. “Because that is quite a drive.”

“Okay, maybe not everywhere,” Mercedes says, “But anywhere in or around Lima is fine. Would you like to get a milkshake or some cheesecake?”

Kurt shakes his head and Mike thinks he looks exhausted. “No, I want to go home. I’d prefer New York home, but Lima home is fine for now.”

“I’ll bake you something,” Brittany says as she wraps her arms around Kurt. “Lord Tubbington has a recipe for delicious cupcakes. I never got him to share it before, but I’m sure he’ll tell me if he knows it’s for you. Maybe he’ll even help me.”

“Thank you, Brittany,” Kurt says as he hugs her back for a moment. As she lets go of him, Kurt turns his head to Santana. “You’re traveling back tonight, right?”

“Yeah,” Santana says, “I have to get back tonight, work calls in the morning and I can’t get too much time off.” She shrugs. “But we’ll have a talk when you’re back in the City.”

“We’ll see,” Kurt says and his face hardens. Mike wonders who will win this battle of wills, because Kurt looks like he doesn’t want to talk about whatever it is that he mentioned inside and Santana never lets something go. With how stubborn they both are, Mike has no idea how that will resolve itself.

“Well,” he says to break the sudden tension, “Let’s go, before Blaine decides to come after you to try and convince you again.”

“Oh god, that wouldn’t surprise me at all. Please take me home.”

 

Kurt feels tired as Mercedes pulls up in front of his house, well his dad and Carole’s house. It doesn’t really feel like home anymore. Even though it’s not even been a year yet, New York is his home now, a home that Lima never really has been. Of course he misses his dad and some of his friends, but most of those people don’t live in Lima anymore. Come next September, there will be even less.

“Thanks, ‘Cedes,” Kurt says with a sigh. He looks over his shoulder to look at Mike, who is sitting in the backseat. “Thank you too, Mike. For getting me out of there.”

“Not a problem,” Mike answers with a friendly smile, “I know that you would have done the same for me.”

“Well, of course. But still, thanks. I really needed to leave, even if I didn’t know it yet.” He sighs again and opens the door. “I can’t get out of telling my dad about this, I guess.”

As he steps out of the car, Kurt hears the others get out too. Looking at them, he sees that they´re both frowning at him. “Why wouldn’t you tell your dad?” Mercedes asks. “You know he would want to know.”

“Yes, but with his health problems… I try not to give him too much stress. We still have his heart to think about.”

“Don’t you want to talk to your dad about it though? I mean, to me he seems like a very reasonable man, and I always thought the two of you got along well,” Mike says, and Kurt can understand where Mike is coming from. He heard enough last year to know that Mike and his father don’t always get along or agree on stuff.

“I do, and I will. And of course he is healthier than before.” Though that is not the reason he’ll talk to his dad. With Blaine doing this in public, there is no chance that this will not get back to Burt. He’d rather tell his father about all of this himself, but if he could, he wouldn’t tell him at all.

It’s what living with one parent for so long does to you, Kurt supposes. Mercedes and Mike are wonderful people but he knows they won’t understand, not really, how you’d want to protect the one parent that you do still have with you. Finn would understand it a lot better. He has seen and heard it happening, that Finn keeps some things from Carole, to make sure she doesn’t worry. Even Puck, to some extent, would understand it.

He steps towards Mercedes and gives her a hug, which she returns with a tight squeeze, not letting go for a minute. “Call me if you need me, okay?”

“I will,” Kurt promises. Letting go of her, he hesitates for a moment, but Mike makes the decision for him by wrapping his arms around him.

“Same for me, you can call whenever you want or need to,” Mike says as he steps back, nodding at Kurt.

Kurt nods back at both of them. “Again, thanks. See you later.” Mercedes and Mike say bye as well before they get in the car.

He walks to the house and as he opens the door he looks behind him, seeing the still worried looks on their faces. Kurt smiles reassuringly and waves at them before he closes the door behind him.

“That you, Kurt?” he hears his dad call out.

“Yes,” Kurt answers as he walks further into the house, finding his dad sitting at the dining table looking over some papers. “Hi, dad.” Burt looks up as Kurt sits down and he thinks his dad must see something on his face, because the papers are being slid to the side within a second.

“How did it go?” Burt asks getting straight to the point.

“Okay, I guess,” Kurt says, “The New Directions won, so that’s good. And back in the choir room, Mr. Schuester and Miss Pillsbury finally got married. So Mrs. Schuester now.”

“That doesn’t explain why you look so… Defeated, I think the word is. If anything, it’s the opposite. Weddings always make you happy.” Burt tilts his head in a way that Kurt knows he also does when he’s not sure of something. “So, something else must have happened.”

Kurt nods, not really looking at his dad. “Yeah.” He doesn’t know how to say it, so he frowns and shrugs a little before deciding to just say it. “After we all congratulated the happy couple, Blaine decided it was a good idea to propose to me.” He scowls. “Or well, he decided to do it there. He must have had the idea for some time because he even had a ring.”

“I told him…” he hears Burt mutter and Kurt looks up at him in surprise.

“You told him what?”

Burt sighs. “He came to me to ask for your hand.”

“What?!” Kurt doesn’t mean to yell but he can’t help himself. “What on earth is he even thinking?! Is he even thinking?!”

“I don’t know son,” Burt says. “I think you figured as much, but I told him no. You’re both way too young to make such a commitment.”

“Not to mention that we’re not together and haven’t been for months. And as far as I am concerned, we’ll never be again. I wanted to try and be friends with him again because he was my best friend before we started dating but honestly? Right now, I don’t even want to try that. It’s done. I’m completely done with him.”

“You sure about that?” Burt asks, with just a bit of hesitation in his voice. “To be honest, I thought there was a good chance that you would get back together sometime in the future. I told Blaine to wait, to see if the two of you would work out, and maybe, maybe then… But not now.”

Kurt drops his head into his hands. “Yeah, no,” he says with a sigh, “I can understand why you would think that, but no. I know you know that I don’t always tell you everything. But there was more to the break-up than just the distance. I can’t trust him anymore, not with my heart.”

“Kurt, are you saying…” Burt starts, but Kurt cuts him off.

“No, I’m not saying anything. It’s over and done, it was months ago and I forgave him, mostly, but I can’t forget.” Kurt moves a hand through his hair. He’s not planning on going out today anymore, so it doesn’t matter if it looks a bit ruffled. “Besides… I did want to tell you today, not like this, but I’m dating someone in New York.”

Burt’s eyebrows rise, just like Kurt expected. “A boy in New York?”

Kurt feels a smile forming onto his face and he blushes a little. “His name is Adam.” He takes his phone out of his pocket and after tapping on the screen, slides it over towards his dad. “He is so unbelievably sweet. And, well, he’s British. So his accent is to die for.”

“Yeah, I know you have a thing for that,” Burt says while he looks at the picture Kurt pulled up on his phone. “How did you two meet?”

“He’s a student at NYADA and he saw my audition at the Winter Showcase. He wanted me to join his glee club, sang a ridiculous song when I came to watch them. I, well, he’s just been so sweet, and I really like him.” Kurt shakes his head. “I’m rambling a little, aren’t I?”

“You are,” Burt says and hands Kurt his phone back. “You really like him.” It wasn’t a question, but Kurt nodded anyways.

“I do,” he says. “Maybe, with more time, I could even fall in love with him. But right now, I like spending time with him, he makes me happy, he says I make him happy… It’s good.”

“Then I’m happy for you,” Burt says, “At least spending time together isn’t too much of a problem since you’re going to the same school, right?”

“You’d be surprised,” Kurt says with a laugh, “We’re both working a lot, we take different classes, often on opposite sides of campus. And with his senior projects, he has a lot of extra work to do, to be able to graduate.”

“Senior projects?” Burt asks with a small frown. “How old is this guy?”

“Twenty-two,” Kurt says with a small shrug. “Does it really matter? We like each other, that is the most important thing.”

“I know, I know,” Burt says shaking his head. “But twenty-two… That’s… Well, you’re right, I suppose. And I trust you to know what’s best for you.”

“I do. And believe me, not getting back together with Blaine is the best idea.”

 

Kurt still feels a little tired when he wakes up the next morning, he had a pretty restless night. The evening before, the phone calls and texts had started. He still is a little surprised that it took them a few hours to get started, but he’d quickly silenced his phone. He sighs while reaching out his arm and grabs his phone.

Of course. Twenty-four missed calls, of which only one wasn’t from Blaine. He would have to call Finn back later. Most of Blaine’s calls are from last night but a few of them are from this morning, the last one was just a few minutes ago. The texts are also numerous. Again, most of them are from Blaine, but there are a few from various other people. One from Rachel and even before he reads it, he knows she doesn’t know yet, otherwise there would be many more texts from her. He decides to keep it that way for as long as possible.

There are also some texts from Sam and Tina, a text from Unique that she and Marley sent together, and a sweet but confusing text from Brittany. He sends something back to Unique and to Britt, but decides to leave the others to deal with after he has had a cup of coffee. Maybe two.

After a shower and getting dressed, Kurt finally gets himself some coffee. The house is empty, a note on the refrigerator telling him that Burt and Carole are visiting Carole’s aunt. Kurt doesn’t mind, he just enjoys the peace and quiet for a moment while sitting at the dining table. Living with Rachel and Santana doesn’t really make for a quiet environment.

Just as he’s thinking about getting up and getting a second cup of coffee, the doorbell rings. Kurt jumps a little before turning his head wearily. “Please, don’t let it be Blaine,” he mutters to himself as he gets up and moves towards the door. Quickly peeking through the frosted glass next to the front door, he sighs with relief; whoever it is, it isn’t Blaine. The person is too tall.

Kurt opens the door and is a little surprised to see Mike standing there, with a friendly smile on his face. “Hi,” Kurt says, “Want to come in?”

“Actually, I’m here to pick you up,” Mike says.

Kurt blinks. “Pick me up?” Very articulate. He definitely needs that second cup of coffee.

“Yeah, I thought that you’d like to get out of Lima for a while. And I’m going to the airport, so that is a few hours of not being here.” Mike shrugs. “If you don’t want to come, it’s fine too but I wanted to give you the option.”

Kurt blinks again thinking for a moment. “That is actually a very appealing idea. Just let me… Shoes, I need shoes. And more coffee, clearly.”

It takes just a few minutes before they are in Mike’s car and driving out of the street. It is just then that a thought occurs to Kurt.

“Wait, why are we going to the airport?”

Mike laughs and points at the coffee in Kurt’s hand. “You, drink that.” He shakes his head. “We’re going to pick up Quinn, she’s flying in today.”

“Oh,” Kurt says and a smile forms on his face. “It will be good to see her. I haven’t spoken to her since… Two weeks after Valentine’s Day? Something like that.”

“It’s been a few weeks for me too. Well, I spoke to her this morning. She didn’t think she could come, so her mom isn’t able to pick her up today. And well, I _do_ have the time. And it actually turned out to be a good escape for us, right?”

“Right.” Kurt sighs and slumps a little into the seat. “You’re full of good ideas this weekend.”

“Not just this this weekend,” Mike says in a fake arrogant tone. “I’m always full of wonderful ideas!”

Kurt snorts and laughs. “You’re full of something, anyway.”

“You hurt me,” Mike says in a dramatic voice, putting a hand to his heart for a moment, “Right here.” Then he laughs too. “See, I did learn something after three years in Glee with all you divas.”

“Right now you sound like you learned something from Puck in Sophomore year.” Kurt tells him in a teasing voice.

Mike opens his mouth to protest but snaps it shut and shrugs. “Fair enough.” he says as stops in front of a red light and turns his head to smile at Kurt. “Not sure if there is that much of a difference.”

“Hey!”

 

The drive is a great distraction and time passes quickly. They talk about all kinds of things and in the moments they don’t talk, Kurt sings along to the radio. He even manages to convince Mike to sing along to a few songs too, though he suspects that Mike was just protesting for the sake of protesting.

They find a parking spot relatively easy and walk into the airport while still talking and laughing. They stop by the screen with information.

“When is her plane coming in?” Kurt asks.

Mike is stares at the screen before glancing at his watch. “Ten minutes,” he says. “Thank goodness it didn’t take long to convince you. If there is one thing I’ve learned about girls, it’s that you don’t keep them waiting. Ever.”

Kurt chuckles. “I know. That is important knowledge to every guy. Even the gay ones. Girls can still kick me where it hurts, you know.”

“Good point,” Mike says before looking around. “That way.” He points to the left and they start walking again.

“Plus, I now live with Rachel and Santana. Imagine what would happen if you keep one them waiting? Never mind both of them,” Kurt says with a little bit of horror in his voice.

Mike falters in his steps for a moment, shuddering. “That would be a nightmare.”

“I think so too,” Kurt says, “And no one could pay me enough to try it.”

In no time they find the gate where Quinn is supposed to come in.

“There is not enough time to get another cup of coffee before she gets here, right?” Kurt asks.

Mike looks at him. “Did you get even more addicted to coffee in New York?”

Kurt puts an innocent look on his face before glancing casually around them. “Maybe.”

He hears a snort and looks at Mike to see him shaking his head. “I didn’t think that was possible.”

“Neither did I, but it turned out to be very possible.” Kurt shrugs. “It’s what working two jobs and going to school does to a person.”

“Is that even healthy?” Mike asks. “It doesn’t sound healthy.”

“It probably isn’t but I still find time to relax and have fun. And I actually like being busy so for now I think it is fine.” Kurt says.

Mike make a disbelieving sound, but drops it. Instead they both turn to the gate where the first people are making their way through. It takes a while but finally they recognize a blonde head coming through.

“Quinn!” Mike yells, putting his hand up and the boys start making their way towards her. She looks around clearly having heard her name and she smiles as she spots them.

“Hello, boys,” she says, wrapping her arms around Mike and giving him a tight hug. After she releases him, she gives Kurt a tight hug too. “It’s so good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you too,” Kurt says honestly. “You’re looking well.”

“Thanks,” Quinn says. “I’m feeling well, so maybe that’s showing.”

“Let’s go get your luggage,” Mike says and they start walking, “You doing well at Yale?”

“Yes.” Quinn says with a smile. “I start liking my courses more and more each day. I hear a lot of other Freshmen talking about switching majors or taking different classes but I’m really happy with what I’m doing.”

“Good to hear,” Kurt says, “And really, I don’t think anybody thought that you would ever switch majors. You thought it through way too much for that.”

“Maybe I made people a little crazy last year with talking about my options.” she says a little embarrassed.

“Just a bit,” Mike says at the same time that Kurt says; “Maybe.” They both laugh at Quinn’s offended look.

“You weren’t as bad as Rachel so don’t worry about it,” Kurt says.

“No one was as bad as Rachel,” Quinn says. “I love that girl but I can’t understand how you can survive living with her.”

“Lots and lots of patience,” Kurt says with a crooked smile.

“And earplugs, I suspect,” Mike jokes but Kurt nods which makes Mike laugh again. “Which is yours?” he asks as they stand in front of the baggage claim.

“I don’t see… Oh, there,” Quinn says. “The blue one with the white tag.”

Before Mike can move, Kurt steps forward and picks it up. “This one?”

“Yes,” Quinn says.

“You’re making me look bad here,” Mike says with a slight pout which makes him look adorable in Kurt’s opinion. “Telling her she looks good, picking up her suitcase… You’re not leaving anything for me.”

Kurt smirks and pats Mike on the shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Mike. But you should leave carrying the heavy stuff to me.” His smirk widens as he flexes his free arm. “Have you seen these guns?”

Mike lets out a startled laugh. “You’re awful,” he says, “Just awful.”

“Awfully good, maybe.” Kurt says.

“Yeah, right. I could take you on with arm-wrestling any day.” Mike says.

“Don’t be so sure.” Kurt says.

“Boys.” Quinn says shaking her head.

Kurt sticks his tongue out at Mike before turning to Quinn and offering his arm. “Shall we get some coffee?” he asks.

Quinn shakes her head in disbelieve but takes his arm, “You guys. But yes, I would like some coffee.”

“Again with the coffee?” Mike asks but follows them anyway.

 

About fifteen minutes later they all pile into the car with coffee in their hands. Kurt tries to offer the front seat to Quinn but she declines.

“I want to be at a safe distance away from you two if you suddenly decide that you have to fight it out,” she tells him before getting into the backseat. “Really, of all the people that would need to display macho behavior, the two of you were kind of on the bottom of my list.”

“A lot can change in a year, my dear,” Kurt says, smiling at her over his shoulder. “But no, we’re just having a bit of fun. Besides, I wouldn’t fight Mike while he’s driving. I would beat him fair and square.”

“You wish,” Mike says as he puts his seatbelt on.

“Boys…” Quinn says with a sigh. “Though I did notice your arms, Kurt. I’m not the only one that’s looking good.”

“Oh, thanks,” Kurt says.

“Are you working out?” Mike asks.

“Well, a little,” Kurt says. “I don’t have much time lately though so it’s just whenever I can fit in a moment. But maybe you heard about Miss July on Facebook from Rachel. That woman is a hard taskmaster. And we’re doing a lot of lifts in her dance class. That’s almost a work out on its own.”

“I started working out because of the lifts. A few years ago, before I developed the muscles in my arms, I dropped a girl,” Mike tells. “She fell on top of me so I broke her fall and we were both alright but it really scared me.” He starts scowling as he hears Kurt and Quinn snickering.

“Did you still dance with her after that?” Kurt asks.

“…No,” Mike admits, “She didn’t want to.” Then he shrugs before he drives out of the parking lot. “I’m just glad I don’t have that problem anymore. If I drop a girl now, it’s because she did something wrong or it’s because the lift is difficult.”

“Or you just want to lie underneath her.”

“Kurt!” both Quinn and Mike shout in surprise.

“What?” Kurt asks feigning innocence.

“I would never do that,” Mike says, “I would hold her up even longer, to impress her.”

A sigh comes from the back seat. “Really, boys,” Quinn says.

“What?” Kurt asks again. “You should see this as a learning experience. We’re teaching you about the male mind.”

“I don’t think I want to learn more,” Quinn says.

“Oh, too bad,” Mike says, “We were just getting started.”

“I’m sure.” Quinn lets out a deep sigh. “So, tell me the Lima news.”

Kurt blinks. Then he looks at Mike. “Did you tell her?”

“No,” Mike says, “We didn’t talk very long this morning. And besides, I thought that maybe you’d prefer to tell yourself.”

“I don’t know,” Kurt says, frowning.

“So… Something _did_ happen in Lima?” Quinn asks.

“Yeah…” Mike says.

“Shall I give you a short summary first?” Kurt asks. He looks over his shoulder to see Quinn shrug.

“Sure, I guess,” she says.

“New Directions won regionals. Miss Pillsbury finally became Mrs. Schuester. And Blaine proposed to me,” Kurt says in an even voice looking at the road in front of him.

A moment of silence and a few uncompleted sentences pass before Quinn manages to settle on, “What?!”

“I know it’s surprising,” Kurt says, “But the New Directions actually did really well.”

“Kurt!”

“Sorry, sorry,” Kurt murmurs. “It’s just, I still can’t believe that really happened.”

“Blaine really proposed?” Quinn asks with in a slightly shocked tone.

Kurt sighs. He sees Mike glance at him.

“Yeah,” Mike answers for Kurt. “Right after the wedding, everyone was congratulating Mr. and Mrs. Schuester and suddenly Blaine drops down on one knee and proposed.”

“Normally I wouldn’t assume, but with how you’re talking about it, I guess you said no,” Quinn says hesitating slightly.

“You guessed right,” Kurt tells her.

“Then I hope you don’t mind me saying that it was an awful thing that he did,” Quinn says. “Proposing on someone else’s wedding. It was their day, he shouldn’t try to take away from that.”

“I don’t mind,” Kurt says. “I agree completely. Until then, it was so special. Miss… Mrs. Schuester had such a sweet speech and she looked so happy. Mr. Schuester still had a slight look of incredibility in his eyes but he was close to bouncing on his feet with happiness. And of course, there was a happy and romantic feeling but that doesn’t excuse him.”

“I think he just assumed that you would say yes, that it would mean even more happiness,” Mike muses. “Not sure why he would think that since you aren’t even dating anymore.”

“Boys are stupid. Simple as that.”

“Hey!” both boys yell offensively.

“I’ll remember that for the next time you ask me to pick you up.” Mike huffs.

“Just kidding,” Quinn says. “Just, most boys are stupid. You’re okay. For boys.”

“Sure,” Kurt says slightly sarcastic but then he smiles a little. He feels the tension that was creeping back into his body slowly fade again thanks to Quinn lightening the mood. He looks back at her and gives her a small but grateful smile. “Like you guessed, I said no,” he continues his tale. “Blaine wasn’t happy, of course. But Mike got me out of there along with Mercedes and the other parts of the Unholy Trinity.”

“Santana is in town as well?” Quinn asks.

“Not anymore,” Kurt says. Too bad. She’s a good ally to have around with things like this. Santana wouldn’t have minded cutting Blaine with words or even literally if he’d asked her. “She flew back last night.”

 

Quinn barely holds in a sigh of relief. Suddenly she’s even more glad to be seated in the back, if Mike and Kurt look at her face they will know something is up.

Yes, Santana and she agreed that everything will stay the same. But Quinn has barely spoken to Santana after the last time Mr. and Mrs. Schuester tried to get married, and didn’t see her at all. So even if they agreed that things would be normal, she can’t be sure that they will be. And Quinn doesn’t want to deal with that, not in the few days she has in Lima.

“And how is Brittany doing? I saw something about MIT on Facebook last night, I think?” she asks the boys.

Kurt nods. “Early admission,” he tells her. “They want to scoop her up before anyone else gets the chance.”

“Huh,” Quinn says tilting her head, “I always knew she was smart in her own way.” It was impossible to not have noticed in all the time they’ve spent together over the years. “Glad to hear that more people picked up on it.”

“Yes, it is,” Mike agrees. “Last year she told me that she really wanted to get into college, but was afraid that nobody would ever understand her enough to get that chance. I’m really happy for her.”

“I always thought she would get into a college for dance or something similar,” Kurt says.

Quinn smiles. Out of all of the people that are or have been in the New Directions, these guys are probably the happiest for Brittany. Well, besides Santana and herself. She doesn’t believe that even Artie or Sam, who both have dated Brittany, understand how big this is for their exceptional friend.

“I just hope that they give her enough opportunity to dance,” Mike says slightly musing, “She comes up with her best ideas while dancing.”

“Maybe we should write MIT an email. Or give them a call or something, to let them know.” Kurt says.

“That is a good idea.” Quinn says after thinking about it for a moment and Mike nods in agreement.

“Yeah, we should make sure that Britt gets the best shot at this. She’d do the same for us.”

 

Half an hour later they drive into the parking lot of a small roadside restaurant for lunch. When they walk inside, Mike sees a lot of men, probably the owners of the various trucks in the parking lot.

Kurt leads them to a booth by a window and Mike slides in on the opposite side of the other two.

“Have either of you been here before?” Mike asks.

“No,” Quinn says and Kurt also shakes his head.

“Me either. But I guess it’s as good a place as any,” Kurt says.

Kurt and Mike both quickly grab a menu and within a minute they have both picked out what they want to eat. Quinn on the other hand looks suspiciously at them over the top of her own menu.

“Something wrong?” Mike asks confused by her look.

“No,” she says before looking down at her menu again. Mike looks at Kurt but he looks just as confused as he himself feels. They shrug at each other and look up at the waitress that stops at their table. The boys both order and after a moment, Quinn adds her own salad to the order.

Then Mike feels his phone buzz and pulls it out of his pocket.

“Uh-oh,” he says looking up at the others, “A text from Blaine.”

Kurt sighs. “What does it say?”

Mike opens the text. “It says; ‘ _Do you know where Kurt is?_ ’ That’s all.”

“Ah, it was only a matter of time before he figured out that I’m not home,” Kurt says. “I’m not looking forward to turning my phone on again.”

“Well, you don’t have to deal with it just yet. ‘ _I am picking Quinn up from the airport,_ ’” Mike says as he types it out on his phone. “Not a lie, just not telling him everything.”

Quinn wraps an arm around Kurt. “You’ll talk to him when you want to, okay? On your terms. He’ll just have to accept that.”

Kurt snort softly. Mike frowns wanting to ask what that’s about but before he can Kurt changes the subject.

“So Quinn, tell us more about Yale. New friends? Maybe a special someone?” he asks.

Quinn quickly shakes her head. “Goodness, no. At least on the special someone part. I’ve made some great new friends. Amy, who is in most of my classes. She can’t sing a note to save her life but she’s really sweet, bubbly and a great actress. Then there is her cousin Jennifer, who majors in History. Completely different, pretty serious but she always has the most amazing stories. I’d love to sit in on some of her classes with the way she describes them. And completing our small group is Naomi, a Sociology major. She’s a tiny, quiet redhead. But when she talks, she says the most intelligent things.”

While he still worries about Kurt’s reaction, Mike can’t help but smile at the happiness in Quinn’s voice.

“Believe it or not,” Quinn continues, “but I’ve even told them a lot about my past. About my time before McKinley, about Beth. I really feel safe with them.”

“That’s obvious, if you told them all that,” Kurt says. This time Kurt wraps an arm around Quinn. “I’m glad you found some great friends.”

“Me too,” Quinn says. After hugging Kurt back she turns her eyes to Mike. “And how about you?”

“Kind of the same, actually,” Mike says, “No special someone but some good friends. I don’t get along with my roommate too well but I think that is because we’re too similar as dancers. We’re going to be competing for parts, we both know that and so we keep each other at a safe distance.”

“Oh, suddenly I’m even more glad with my single room. The tension that must be in your room around auditions…” Quinn says with a slight shudder.

“Yeah, that’s not going to be fun,” Mike agrees with a nod. It’s a good thing that this first year isn’t that competitive. “But I’ve found myself a new bisexual girl to dance with.”

“Really?” Quinn asks while Kurt, who heard the story a few days before, snickers.

“Yes, her name is Meghan,” Mike says with a nod and he pulls up a picture of his phone, “Meghan is the brunette.” He turns the phone towards the others. “The other girl is her girlfriend, Gabrielle.” He smiles as Quinn and Kurt look at the beautiful girls. “I was a little too excited when I found out that Meg has a girlfriend. I had to tell her about Brittany and everyone else before she believed that I didn’t just want to perv on her and Gaby.”

Quinn smiles. “That must have been strange for them.”

“Yeah. And besides that, they still look at me in disbelieve with some of the stories I tell them about the New Directions.” He can’t blame them though. If he hadn’t been there himself, he wouldn’t believe it either.

“You must look gorgeous dancing together, though,” Quinn says, “With her dark skin… It must look amazing.”

“Well, Gaby says we are,” Mike says.

“But she’s biased,” Quinn counters.

Mike snorts. “No, she not. Gaby doesn’t like dance in any way, shape or form. She also disliked most of Meg’s previous dance partners. So if she says that we look well together, it’s big praise.”

“Gabrielle isn’t at the same college?” Kurt asks.

Mike shakes his head, remembering that he didn’t say anything about that. “No. She goes to college in Chicago though, and she and Meghan live together in a small apartment for about a year and a half now. Gaby’s parents… Well, they kicked her out when she told them she was dating Meg.”

“Oh dear,” Quinn almost whispers.

“Yeah. Meg’s parents are not the most supportive either, so they got a place together during senior year. They are from Chicago so they didn’t move far but at least now they both go home to a safe and happy place at the end of the day.”

At that point their food arrives. It’s clear to see that Kurt had the same idea as Mike; to enjoy eating out as much as possible. Even though it’s only lunch, both their plates are filled with fries, salads and Mike thinks it is chicken on Kurt’s plate, while he has a reasonably size steak. Quinn only has a salad and is shaking her head while looking at their plates.

“Where are you going to put all that?” she asks.

“Uh, my stomach?” Mike says hesitating a little at her tone.

“That much?”

“We’re teenage boys, Quinn,” Kurt says. “Teenage boys that dance a lot. We need this.”

Mike moves his plate a little closer towards her. “If you want some fries, just take them. They put enough of them on the plate.”

“The portions are probably aimed at the truckers,” Kurt says softly looking around a little. Mike glances around as well. He knows that not all truckers are like this, but the guys in here all look like they can pack away a good meal.

It’s silent for a moment while they all focus on their food. After a few stealthy looks, Quinn grabs a few fries and nibbles on them making Mike and Kurt chuckle. In turn, Quinn glares at them but there isn’t any anger behind it.

“Good?” Mike asks slightly teasing.

Quinn grumbles a little but nods anyway. “It’s good.”

 

It’s close to an hour later when Mike parks in front of the Hummel-Hudson house. They dropped Quinn’s baggage of at her mom’s place but Quinn said she doesn’t really feel at home there anymore so they made the short drive to Kurt’s place. After getting drinks in the kitchen, they all sit down in the living room.

“So Kurt,” Mike starts, and Kurt looks up confused at the serious tone that Mike uses, “Yesterday, you said something and… Well, if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine, but… You said that Blaine did something that hurt you. Now, almost no one knows why the two of you broke up and if you want to keep it that way, that’s okay, like I said.”

“But you’re curious?” Kurt asks effectively cutting off Mike’s rambling.

Mike shrugs. “A little of course. But I mostly wanted to ask if you want to talk about it.”

Kurt sees Quinn frowning in confusion and sighs. “Blaine cheated on me,” he says softly, almost a whisper. He looks down to the floor at the shocked gasps on either side of him. “And while that hurt, it hurt even more that he blamed me for it.”

“He cheated? Didn’t see that one coming,” Mike says.

“How did he blame it on you?” Quinn asks.

“He said that he was lonely, that I didn’t have enough time for him.” He slouches back into the couch. “But I couldn’t talk when I was at work. Maybe I didn’t handle things like I should have but he didn’t either. He could have flown to New York if he was that lonely instead of cheating on me.

Quinn puts a comforting arm around his shoulder. “I can’t judge anyone cheating,” she says honestly. “But the cheating is his fault, his decision.”

“Yeah,” Kurt mutters. “I think so too. Clearly, his thoughts about it are not the same. So I can’t trust him like that, ever again. Even if I wasn’t seeing someone else, I wouldn’t take him back.”

“You have a boyfriend?” Mike asks.

“There is a better subject,” Quinn says squeezing his shoulder before moving back. “Details!”

 

Kurt happily tells them about Adam. About how sweet he is, and how handsome and Quinn asks all the right questions. Mike looks a bit overwhelmed and when they ask him about it, he tells them that he wonders how “there can be so much girl talk, with only one girl in the room”, which results in a smack from Quinn and an elbow in the side from Kurt. After that they talk about a lot of things, mainly the new experiences in their new city lives and colleges, until there is a knock in the front door.

“Oh,” Kurt says. “That’s Blaine.”

Quinn tilts her head. “How do you know?”

“I know how he knocks,” Kurt says. “Damn. I’m not ready to deal with him.”

Quinn stands up and brushes her dress straight. “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.” There’s a reason why she was head cheerleader. Bothersome ex-boyfriends are nothing after Sue Sylvester.

She opens the front door and indeed, Blaine is on the other side. He looks up to her in confusion.

“Quinn. I- Why are you here?”

“Catching up with my friends,” she says, a simple smile plastered onto her face. “The better question is why you are here. I think not returning your calls is enough of an indicator that Kurt doesn’t want to talk to you.”

“But I need to see him, we need to talk,” Blaine says.

“You probably do,” Quinn agrees, “But not now.”

“You don’t know-” he continues but Quinn interrupts him.

“I know that you proposed on someone else’s wedding day, which is a horrible thing to do. And after how you embarrassed Kurt, you owe it to him to let him decide when to contact you. If he even wants to,” Quinn tells the boy in a matter of fact tone of voice.

“What? I embarrassed him? He’s the one who turned me down!”

Quinn raises an eyebrow, silently questioning if he’s stupid. She’s used it on boys before to shut them up and apparently it works on the gay ones as well. Not too stupid then.

“That is a risk you take with proposing in front of an audience. That was your choice,” she says, not feeling sorry for him in the slightest. “I can’t figure out why you did it since you’re not even dating Kurt but then again, I don’t really care. What I care about is that you should stop bothering Kurt.”

Blaine looks like he want to protest but looking at her face, he must see that she’s not going to be convinced. “Fine,” he grumbles. He hesitates for a moment but then turns around and gets into his car, driving off without another word.

With a satisfied smirk she closes the door and moves back into the living room. “He’s gone.” She sits down on the couch but before she can settle in, Kurt wraps his arms around her and hugs her tightly.

“Thanks,” he whispers in her ear.

“You’re welcome,” Quinn tells him. “To be honest, it was a bit disappointing. I didn’t need to yell, or be a bitch.”

Mike chuckles. “You’re weird, you know that?” Quinn raises her eyebrow at him over Kurt’s shoulder. It makes Mike back paddle in no time. “I, I mean. Awesome. Weirdly awesome? Awesomely weird.”

“You’re not making it any better,” Kurt says pulling back to look at Mike.

“He isn’t,” Quinn agrees. “You’re lucky I like you.”

 

Late that afternoon, Burt and Carole come home to a home filled with happiness. Kurt, Mike and Quinn put on a film but they’re barely watching it. They’ve moved the furniture to the side and the three of them are dancing throughout the entire living room on the music coming from the television.

Carole and Burt share a look, standing in the doorway to the living room. “Crazy kids,” Burt mutters and Carole giggles a little. Kurt waltzes around the room with a loudly laughing Quinn in his arms. After a moment, Mike does a pirouette and moves over to them, cutting in. But instead of taking Quinn in his arms, he moves to take her spot letting Kurt lead him around the room and making Quinn drop down on the floor, she’s laughing so hard.

“You kids having fun?” Burt asks making them all look over at him and Carole.

“Loads, Mister Hummel,” Mike tells him and Kurt lets Mike make a turn.

“I wish the girls in my class could dance like the two of you,” Kurt says. “Miss July would be thrilled.”

“And you too, huh, son?” Burt asks having heard enough complaints from Kurt in these past few months.

“For sure,” Kurt says making Mike twirl again before he gives into his own laughter, first sitting and then lying down on the floor. Mike is laughing loudly as well but keeps moving around the room.

“I think they’ve lost it,” Carole says which sets Quinn of again. Burt shares another look with her but she just shrugs.

“Are you staying for dinner?” Burt asks.

It takes a few minutes, but when they’ve caught their breath, both Mike and Quinn say that their having dinner with their respective parents.

“Let’s leave the kids to their antics,” Carole says. Burt nods and goes into the kitchen with her. Kids. He’ll never understand them.

 

The next morning it is a Monday, which means that all of the current New Directions members are back in school. The former members still in Lima are all at Mercedes’ house.

Quinn and Mercedes have their arms wrapped around each other. “Why do you have to leave already?" Quinn asks.

Mercedes chuckles. “The question is why did you come back to Lima so late? We were all here.”

“Timing was bad,” Quinn says letting go and stepping back. Mercedes points at Mike.

“I’m going to call you soon, okay? We need to do that clip, like yesterday. I’m going to talk to some people and try to make things happen.”

“And we all know what happens if you put your mind to something,” Mike says giving Mercedes a quick hug.

Then Kurt gives her a hug as well. “Keep showing them all how amazing you are, okay?”

Mercedes smiles and gives Kurt a kiss on his cheek. “As long as you do the same.”

“Promise,” Kurt says kissing her cheek as well before letting her get in the car with her parents. “Talk to you soon, Miss Jones.”

“You bet,” Mercedes says closing the door behind and waving at them as the car starts moving. They all wave back until the car turns around the corner.

“So, what are we going to do with our day?” Mike asks.

There is one thought that immediately flies through Kurt’s head. “Let’s not go to McKinley today.”

Mike snickers and Quinn shakes her head. “Wasn’t even on the list of options,” Quinn assures him.

“Normally I would suggest shopping, now that we have someone to carry all the bags,” Kurt says with a teasing smile. “But since I have the choice between spending my money here or spending my money in New York…”

“I know what you mean,” Quinn says heaving a sigh, “The Lima mall will never be as attractive as it was in high school.”

“The two of you make us sound so old,” Mike says, “Talking about the good old days.”

Kurt scoffs. “I never called them the good old days. I pick New York over Lima, even when I’m ninety.”

“I think we all would,” Quinn says, “Most of us couldn’t wait to get out of here.”

They all move towards the car. “Lima is okay, for a short time,” Mike says.

“Only in small doses,” Kurt agrees. “I am happy to see the people here, like you, and my dad and Carole. But I’ll be glad when I’m home again.”

“Home?” Quinn asks. “Has your father heard you call New York home already?”

“Yes.” Kurt nods getting into the backseat of the car, letting Quinn sit in the front this time. “Almost two years ago, after our first Nationals.”

“Back then?” Mike asks. “That was the first time you were there, right?”

“It was,” Kurt answers. “But even in those few days I felt more at home in New York than I’ve ever felt in Lima.”

“How come?” Quinn asks.

“I didn’t stand out,” Kurt says. “I know it might sound a little strange but I want to stand out for the right reasons, not just because I’m gay. And in Lima, I’ll always be ‘ _the gay kid_ ’, no matter what I do.”

“Ah.” Quinn says. That, she can understand since people never looked at her the same after her teenage pregnancy.

 

Eventually they end up at Mike’s place, enjoying the Springtime sun in the garden and listening to music on the radio that Mike dragged outside. He even got a blanket to sit on before Kurt or Quinn could even think about mentioning grass stains.

“So…” he begins while stretching out on the blanket and looking up at the sky.

“So?” Quinn asks when he doesn’t continue.

“Why didn’t we figure out how well we could get along when we were still in High School?”

“No idea,” Kurt says, “Well, some idea. We didn’t spent too much time together outside of Glee Club. And in Glee Club we were all way too busy with the drama of the week to notice anything else.”

Mike chuckles. “Fair enough. But stupid of us.”

“True,” Quinn agrees, “Though teenagers are supposed to do stupid things. We can add this onto the list.”

“You have a list?” Mike asks.

“A mental one,” Quinn says, “With all the things I will tell my kids to never do and with things they must do.”

“I would say that’s not a bad idea but would you have listened if your mother told you your list?” Mike asks.

“Maybe,” Quinn says thinking about it. “To some of the things.”

“On the other hand if it wasn’t for our mistakes, we wouldn’t be the people we are today,” Kurt says.

“Fair enough,” Mike decides after thinking that over for a moment.

 

Somehow it takes only a few hours before they’re dancing again, but this time it’s more organized. While they had been talking, Mike decided to jump at the chance to work out one of his choreographies. With the amount of dancing he does in school, he has fewer chances to work on his own stuff. And now he has two people that he knows their abilities of, to work with.

Though he has to admit that Kurt has surprised him. He has known that Kurt can move, of course, but he’s gotten a lot better over the past year. He decides to tell him that.

“That’s really great, Kurt.” Mike tells him as Kurt nails a set of dance moves. “You’ve improved a lot.”

“Thanks,” Kurt says stretching his arms above his head, “Though a lot of that is thanks to the dragoness of a dance teacher that I have for my classes at NYADA.”

That makes a light switch on in Mike’s thoughts. “Oh, right! You have that same teacher that Rachel is always complaining about, right? The one that tells her she’s not good enough?”

“One and the same.” Kurt confirms. “Miss July. She is a little harsh but she just wants her students to give their all, I believe.” Kurt smirks a little. “And sometimes it’s a good thing that there is someone to remind Rachel that she’s not perfect.”

Quinn and Mike both laugh at that. “And what does that Miss July say to you?” Mike asks genuinely curious.

“She says I’m not bad, and in her class you can take that as a compliment.”

“You know, I always thought that you could be quite good with a professional dance teacher.” Mike says.

Kurt looks incredulously at him. “You’re the one that made that comment about my shimmying...”

“I know,” Mike says, “And I stand by what I said that day; it _is_  distracting. But you’ve grown quite a bit in the time before that and I wanted you in boot camp to get a feel for your body again.” He shakes his head. “I wanted to tell you that but it never came up again. And like we said before, we weren’t that close.”

“It’s good to know now though,” Kurt says. “I never had any comments when I was a Cheerio in Sophomore year, well at least not about my dancing. Not even from Coach Sylvester.”

Mike nods. “Before you got the extra inches and nearing the end of senior year, you were doing really well. But that growth is nothing compared to now.”

“It’s true,” Quinn agrees after emptying her bottle of water. “It’s the combination of becoming a better dancer and being more comfortable in your own skin. You were fine in Sophomore year, but Junior year was harsh on you, in a lot of ways.”

“I had to find myself again,” Kurt concludes, making the others nod in agreement. “In more ways than one.”

“And now _I_ have a hard time keeping up with the two of you,” Quinn says shaking her head at them.

“Don’t sell yourself short, Quinn,” Mike says, “You’re doing great. And you’ve grown too in the past year. Not just taller, but grown into you. Being away from Lima is good for you.”

“Quite normal I think,” Kurt says. “After all, it isn’t as if High School has been all sunshine and rainbows for you.”

“It does feel good to be in a school where not everyone knows everything about my past,” Quinn says, “But I do know my limitations, Mike. And you’ve been playing to my strengths, admit it.”

“A little, yeah,” Mike says, deciding to be truthful. “But not as much as you might think right now. Mostly it’s things that are to both your strengths.”

“It’s true,” Kurt says, “Mike just knows how to read our bodies, I guess.”

“Of course I do. I’ve been in Glee with you for close to three years,” Mike says. “Okay now, break time is over. Let’s get back to it.”

 

“Like this,” Mike says showing the move once more. It’s one of the more complicated things they’ve done today and Quinn is getting just a little frustrated with herself. Okay, more than a little and it’s showing in her movements. She knows it but she can’t help it.

“I don’t know why I’m not doing it right,” she says.

“Okay, let’s try something different,” Mike says and he moves behind Quinn, holding one of her arms and his other hand on Quinn’s side. “Like this,” he says again pulling Quinn into the move.

She feels what she’s been doing wrong within a moment. She can also feel a blush rise to her face. At least she can blame the redness in her face on the exercise and the sun, right? Right.

 

In the end Mike is so happy with the end result that he runs into the house to find his parents’ camera, wanting to tape it. Kurt and Quinn on the other hand drop down onto the grass to rest for a moment.

“He’s certainly enthusiastic,” Quinn mutters.

“That he is,” Kurt has to agree. While Mike is a lot friendlier, he made them work almost as hard as Miss July likes to do. Somehow, he doesn’t mind as much, now that he’s dancing and having fun with friends. “He good though. If he doesn’t get a successful career either as a dancer or as a choreographer, I don’t think anyone can.”

 

The video turns out great. The next day Mike sends a copy to Quinn and Kurt as soon as he gets it off the camera. He doesn’t quite know what to do with it but he’s happy to have it recorded. Who knows what it’ll be good for? And at the very least, it’s a documentation of a great afternoon.

 

All too soon their stay in Lima comes to an end. Well, Kurt feels conflicted about it and he knows the others feel the same. Getting away from Lima is always a relief and he’ll be glad to see Adam again, but they had so much fun spending time together, it’s sad that their contact will be mostly reduced to phone calls and the internet.

“I’m really going to miss you two,” Quinn says. They’re at Breadstix for a last dinner together before leaving. Kurt is leaving tonight, his dad driving him to the airport, and Mike and Quinn both leave in the morning, in opposite directions.

“We will stay in contact, right?” Mike asks. “I mean, none of that promising to do it but not doing it stuff.”

“We will,” Quinn promises. “These past few days we got along way too much to not keep in contact.”

Then something springs to mind. “I have an idea,” Kurt says pulling out his phone. He opens Facebook and makes a chat containing the three of them.

 **Kurt Hummel:** Hi!

Two phones give out a sound of a new message. “Now we don’t have an excuse to not keep in contact,” he says as they both pull out their phones to look at them.

“And there is always Skype,” Mike says.

“And we all have our parents living in the same place so it’s not as if we will never see each other, right?” Quinn adds.

“Right,” Kurt says.

 

Late that night, well maybe closer to early morning, Kurt sends out another message.

 **Kurt Hummel:** Home safe. And very glad to see my bed.

 **Kurt Hummel:** FYI, Rachel snores. Loudly.

When he wakes up a few hours later he sees that the others replied to him.

 **Quinn Fabray:** So do you. Quietly, I’ll give you that, but you do snore

 **Mike Chang:** How do you know?

 **Quinn Fabray:** Nationals in New York. Brittany talks in her sleep

 **Mike Chang:** Oh, of course. That was a great trip

 **Mike Chang:** Finn sometimes falls out of his bed

Kurt chuckles.

 **Kurt Hummel:** And that makes a lot of noise since there is a lot of him

He has a feeling that this friendship is going to work out just fine.

 

Quinn frowns when there is a knock on the door of her dorm room. It’s pretty late, almost eleven. She has no idea who would want to ask her something this late. She’s dressed for bed already, wearing simple shorts and a shirt that’s a few sizes too big. Well, she can just stick her head around the door and no one has to see.

She gets of her bed opens the door a little. “Can I help-… Kurt?” There is no doubt, it is Kurt standing on the other side. “What are you doing here?”

“Can I come in?” Kurt asks softly not looking her in the eye, instead gazing at the floor.

Quinn frowns but nods without thinking about it before realizing he doesn’t see that. “Of course,” she says moving backwards and pulling the door open for him. As he moves into her room she notices that he’s carrying a small duffel bag. And when he finally looks at her she can see that his eyes are red, as if he has been crying. Her frown deepens. “Are you okay? What am I saying, I can see you’re not. Come, give me your bag and sit down,” Quinn says pointing at her bed before taking the bag and putting it on the floor before sitting down next to Kurt.

For a moment they just sit there in silence. Quinn glances at Kurt and his face is almost blank. _Almost_ , and Quinn has trouble reading the bit that does show. She figures he’s gathering his thoughts so she just waits for him to start talking.

It takes a few minutes before Kurt sighs and turns his head to face her. “I should probably explain why I’m here.”

Quinn shakes her head. “You don’t have to,” she tells him softly, “If you want to talk that’s okay but if you don’t want to talk, that’s fine by me too.”

Kurt frowns slightly. “I think I want to tell you.” he says. It takes him two or three times to find the words. “Adam and I broke up,” he finally says looking down at his hands.

“What?!” is all Quinn can ask at first. “I did not see that coming.”

“Neither did I,” Kurt says, “And for that matter, neither did Adam. But he got a job offer. Back in England.” He sighs. “All the downsides of dating a senior and dating a foreigner in one package, I guess.”

“It seems that way,” Quinn says, wrapping an arm around Kurt.

“So we decided to break up,” Kurt continues. “It would be more than just long distance. Living in different countries, on different continents. It is just too much, especially since we don’t have a place in common, like a home-town or something. And it wouldn’t be for just a few months. Three years at the very least since his job is for the long haul. That is assuming I would want to move to Britain.” Another sigh. “No, it is all too much. And we both figured that.”

“I agree with you,” Quinn says, “It doesn’t make it any easier but I think you did the right thing. Both of you.”

Kurt leans into her side. “It doesn’t, but it is still good to hear. Even though it was the only sensible thing to do, it still… It sucks.”

Silence falls over them until a thought occurs to Quinn. “Not that I mind you being here, but that doesn’t really explain why you came all the way out here. You could have called.”

Kurt lets out a somewhat harsh sounding chuckle. “I could have but I really wanted to talk to you face to face. I needed a hug. A Quinn hug.”

At those words Quinn wraps her other arm around Kurt as well and hugs him tightly. Kurt leans into her even more, wrapping his arms around her as well. He turns his face into her neck and Quinn can feel his breath ghost over her collarbone for a while. Kurt is shaking a little and she feels that a wet spot is forming on her shoulder. “Oh Kurt,” she whispers, stroking his back.

 

Quinn wakes up when it is getting lighter in the room, due to the sun rising. It doesn’t shine into her room directly but it is enough to wake her when she forgets to close the curtains, like she clearly did last night.

She doesn’t move though, since Kurt is clearly still asleep. Otherwise she would have moved away, she thinks, he is wrapped up in her arms, the side of his face against her breast. She looks down at him and he looks peaceful. The redness around his eyes has disappeared throughout the night. And while sleep does make him look young, like it does with most people, it isn’t as much as it was two years ago.

Two years ago in New York, when they were all sharing a room while they were there for Nationals, she and Santana had been up later than the others, just talking softly. They’d both noticed how young everyone looked, Kurt more so than everyone else.

Now though, while sleep still made him look younger, it was definitely not as much. Of course, all of the girls in the New Directions noticed Kurt losing his ‘baby fat’ in senior year. You’d have to be blind to not notice that Kurt was doing puberty well and growing up into a handsome young man. And as Quinn now has the chance to look at him while he is just wearing his pajama pants, it is even clearer for her to see that he is not a child anymore.

Of course, he’s not as defined and bulked up as someone like Puck for example, but Quinn can easily see that Kurt is well defined in his own way. Lithe, is the word that comes to mind. Well, that is not counting his arms which are looking quite impressive. Even more so than last time she saw Kurt in person. One of those arms is wrapped around her, keeping her close to him.

At that moment Kurt shifts in his sleep, moving even closer to her. To be more precise, pressing his lower half against her legs making it acutely aware to Quinn how much of a man he is. She gasps softly and freezes. Yes, Kurt is definitely all male. Quinn feels herself blush and when Kurt nuzzles his face into her even more she feels a small shiver run through her and heat pools deep inside.

“Oh,” she murmurs. Quinn can’t quite believe the effect Kurt is having on her, that she is actually getting aroused. Of course he’s handsome, but… _It’s Kurt_. Quinn isn’t sure how she should feel about this. Not like this, is the first thing that comes to mind. She tries to move away without waking him, but it is clear the arms are not just good looking, there is quite some strength in them as well and he holds tightly onto her.

Quinn sighs. She didn’t want to wake him since sleep seemed like a good thing for him but staying in bed like this isn’t an option. She moves away from him without the subtleness she tried before, sitting on the edge of the bed and stretching her arms above her head.

“Huh?” is the sleepy reaction from Kurt.

“Sorry,” Quinn says, “I have to go to the bathroom.”

“Oh, okay,” Kurt says while rubbing his eyes. “What’s the time?”

“Almost eight,” Quinn answers looking at her alarm clock.

“Okay,” Kurt says before pulling the blankets over his head. Quinn chuckles softly before deciding that going to the bathroom isn’t a bad idea. When she returns Kurt is exactly where she left him, only a foot poking out from where he has hidden himself.

Since she is calmer now, she puts her previous thoughts out of her mind and sits down on the bed next to Kurt. “Are you awake?” she asks softly.

“No,” is the answer from underneath the blankets.

“Right…” Quinn says with a smile. “I can hear that.” She pokes him in the shoulder or where she thinks his shoulder is. “So no pancakes for you?”

“Pancakes?” is the immediate response and Kurt’s head appears. His hair is a mess and sleep is still clearly visible on his face but there is also a sudden focus. “You said pancakes?”

Quinn shakes her head, her smile remaining. “Teenage boys and food. I’ll never understand it.”

 

About twenty minutes later while Kurt is in the shower, Quinn’s phone goes off. The display reads ‘ _Mike Chang_ ’ and Quinn is surprised. Not that Mike would call her of course, but Mike isn’t one to call so early in the morning.

“Hello Mike, is everything okay?” she asks without wasting any time.

 _“I hope so,”_ Mike says, _“I just got a call from Brittany, who got a call from Santana. Apparently Kurt didn’t return home last night and they can’t reach him, his phone is turned off or his battery died.”_

“Don’t worry,” Quinn says. “It’s just turned off. He didn’t say it, but my guess is that he didn’t want to deal with Rachel and Santana yesterday.”

 _“Oh,”_ Mike says. _“So you know where he is? Is he okay?”_

“He came over here, to New Haven,” Quinn tells him. “More precise, at the moment he’s in the shower.”

 _“Thank god,”_ Mike says and Quinn hears him letting out a deep sigh of relief. _“I know that Santana and Rachel can make things bigger than necessary, but Britt sounded worried which made me worried.”_

“I’ll make sure that Kurt calls her, or I’ll call her myself. I think no one wants to worry Brittany.”

 _“That’s one thing that’s certain,”_ Mike agrees. _“But is Kurt alright?”_

Quinn sighs. “Physically, yes. I… Well, I don’t think he would mind if I tell you. But he and Adam broke up.”

 _“Really?”_ Mike asks and she can hear his surprise over the phone. _“There was nothing pointing in that direction, was there?”_

“No, there wasn’t,” Quinn says, “But Adam got a job offer. For a job in London.”

 _“Ouch. That… Well, great that he has a job, I guess, but that has to suck. For both of them,”_ Mike says.

“Indeed.”

At that moment the door opens and Kurt walks into her room, fully dressed and seemingly ready for the day.

“There he is,” Quinn says in the phone.

Kurt frowns before noticing the phone against Quinn’s ear. He makes a questioning movement with his head.

“It’s Mike,” Quinn says answering Kurt’s unspoken question. She takes her phone from her ear and touches the screen. “You’re on speaker now, Mike.”

 _“Hi Kurt,”_ Mike says, _“You feeling okay?”_

“I told him what happened,” Quinn says before Kurt can answer. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“That’s fine,” Kurt says. “And I’m fine, Mike. Well, to be honest as fine as I can be right now.”

 _“You caused quite a panic, you know?”_ Mike asks.

“I did?” Kurt asks and Quinn can easily see his confusion. “But how? I left a note in the loft and I called my dad before I came here.”

“Did you really think that a note would be enough for your roommates?” Quinn asks him.

Kurt tilts his head in thought. “Good point. I guess it wasn’t?”

 _“Nope,”_ Mike’s voice sounds over the phone, _“Since you weren’t there this morning and they couldn’t reach you-”_

“They thought the worst. Of course,” Kurt says with a sigh.

 _“Right in one,”_ Mike says.

“Santana called Brittany,” Quinn says. Kurt groans and sits down next to her.

 _“Why would she do that?”_ he asks but it’s clear that it is a rhetorical question so Mike and Quinn keep silent. _“I’ll call her in a minute.”_

“I can call her if you want me to?” Quinn suggests but Kurt shakes his head.

“You know she won’t really calm down until she heard from myself.”

 _“He’s right, Quinn. She will want to talk to him,”_ Mike says.

“I know. I just want to make things easier. You have enough to deal with right now,” Quinn says while wrapping her arm around Kurt.

“Thank you,” Kurt says smiling softly at her.

 _“Maybe you should call Santana and Rachel, to yell at them,”_ Mike suggests.

Quinn smiles at that and even if the smile is a bit predatory, who can blame her? “I might do that. Causing all the drama when they had a perfectly fine note.”

 _“You sound a little evil,”_ Mike says sounding like he doubts his suggestion.

“I was a cheerleader, Mike. We are all a little evil. It’s a necessity to succeed in a squad,” Quinn says, “Besides, I haven’t tried to claim that I’m a sweet, innocent girl in years.”

“And we in the Glee Club never would have believed you if you had tried,” Kurt says nudging her shoulder.

“Are you saying that I’m not sweet?” Quinn asks putting her sweetest, doe eyed look on her face.

Kurt blinks. “That is very effective, and slightly terrifying…”

 _“Does she look like a kicked puppy?”_ Mike asks.

“Worse. I can’t describe it, but I know that it’s very dangerous.”

 _“But don’t worry, Quinn,”_ Mike says. _“We know you are very sweet when you want to be.”_

“It is just that we all know that you can be a bitch when you want to be as well,” Kurt says. Quinn slightly glares at him but Kurt just shrugs. “I recognize that in myself so I can say it.”

There is a moment of silence in which Quinn just looks at Kurt, trying to look unimpressed, but she can’t suppress a slight smile. Kurt just grins back at her.

 _“Uh, guys?”_ comes Mike’s worried voice over the phone. _“Kurt, she didn’t kill you, did she?”_

At that they both laugh. “Don’t worry,” Kurt says in between his chuckles, “She knows I speak the truth.”

Quinn smacks him on the arm but there is no harm behind it. She’s too happy to see Kurt happy and laughing.

 _“Still, I wouldn’t have said a thing. I like my bits where they are, you know?”_ Mike says which makes them laugh even more.

“It’s because Kurt has been a cheerleader as well. It changes things,” Quinn says.

 _“If you say so,”_ Mike says.

“I do say so.”

 

It is early in the afternoon when Kurt and Quinn walk onto the platform at the train station. It’s not there yet but the train that will take Kurt back to New York will arrive any minute now.

“Thank you for letting me stay,” Kurt says adjusting the bag that is on his back.

“It wasn’t a problem and you know that,” Quinn says in a slightly admonishing tone before smiling at him. “You know you’re always welcome.”

“I can still thank you, right?” Kurt asks with a smile of his own.

“Sure,” Quinn says, “But to be honest, I’m sad that you have to leave already. The reason wasn’t so great but I have to say that I’m happy I got to spend some time with you.”

“Me too,” Kurt says wrapping his arms around her. “And I feel a lot better than yesterday. Not fine just yet but I think that will take some time.”

“You’ll be fine,” Quinn says, hugging him back. “And if you need to talk, just call okay? Or call Mike, like he said, or both of us. Whatever you need.”

“Can I call when Rachel and Santana become too much?” Kurt asks, only half joking.

Quinn grins. “You have to call in that case! It felt good to yell at them. I wouldn’t mind doing so again.”

“I doubt that you have to. I wouldn’t go against you if you yelled at me like that,” Kurt says stepping back to look at her. “You were scary.”

She puts her prom-queen smile upon her face. “Who, me?”

Kurt snorts. “You know you can’t fool me with that.”

“I can try,” Quinn says. Then the train arrives. Quinn pulls Kurt back and hugs him tightly and he hugs her back just as fiercely.

“I’ll talk to you soon, okay?” Kurt says as he lets go of her.

“You know I’ll hunt you down otherwise,” Quinn says.

“And then you wonder why we don’t believe you’re a sweet and innocent girl,” Kurt says shaking his head. “Women. I’ll never understand them.”

“Good, you’re not supposed to understand us.”

In the meantime they moved towards the train. They give each other another short hug before Kurt gets in.

“Send me a message when you’re home?”

“I will,” Kurt says. They wave at each other as the doors close and Quinn sighs as the train takes off. It will take some time but she’s sure that Kurt will be fine. Even if she has to make everything fine for him, singlehanded. Because Kurt deserves to be happy.

 

“You know, I’ve been thinking…” Mike says one evening as his laptop is running, Skype open in a conversation with Kurt and Quinn.

“Sounds dangerous,” Kurt deadpans, making Quinn giggle.

“Yeah yeah, funny,” Mike says with a wry smile. “But seriously. I think we should all think about making an investment.”

“Oh, shopping?” Kurt asks suddenly exited.

“No, sorry,” Mike says, not really sorry. He’s not as much of a shopping fan as the other two.

“Too bad,” Quinn says like he pretty much expected. “But what kind of investment?”

“Well, upgrading Skype. Than we can have video calls with the three of us together,” he tells them. There is a moment of silence, where they think it over.

“That’s actually a good idea,” Quinn says.

“Don’t sound so surprised,” Mike complains before laughing. “But I thought so too. So I looked it up, and it isn’t too expensive, I think.”

“Lots of thinking going on over there. Don’t hurt yourself, okay?” Kurt teases. “But it is a good idea, yes.”

 

It only takes them a couple of days before they have their first video call.

“It’s good to see you again,” is the first thing that Mike says, smiling and waving at his webcam.

“It sure is,” Quinn agrees, waving back.

“Your hair looks great, Quinn,” Kurt comments. “Been to the hairdresser lately?”

“Just a few days ago,” Quinn says with a nod, playing with a strand of her hair. Now that he knows, Mike does see that Quinn’s hair is just a little shorter. Not much, probably just those dead ends that people talk about. He wouldn’t really know, he just gets a haircut when it becomes too long.

Then there is a knock on Mike’s door. “There they are!” he says standing up.

“Who’s there?” Kurt asks.

“You’ll see,” Mike tells him, moving away from his laptop and opening his dorm room door. “Come in,” he tells Gaby and Meghan, and he barely restrains himself from dragging them over to his laptop. Thankfully he doesn’t have to; they follow him to his desk. Gaby grabs the second chair in the room, belonging to his roommate. Mike figures that his roommate hasn’t any room to complain. At least Mike isn’t having sex in the room.

“Girls, these are my friends, who I’ve known since High School, Quinn and Kurt. This is Meghan,” he says as Meghan drops down on the chair Gabrielle dragged over, “and Gabrielle,” he continues as Gaby sits down on Meghan’s lap and also coming into view on the screen.

“Nice to finally meet you,” Meghan says smiling at the screen.

“Likewise,” Quinn says smiling back.

“We’ve heard a lot about you,” Kurt adds.

“We can say the same,” Gaby says with a smirk. “When he came back from Lima the last time, he couldn’t shut up about the two of you.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Meghan says smiling at Gabrielle.

“It was! You know it was,” Gaby argues. Then she glares at Mike. “And then you made me look at even more dancing!”

Meghan smiles at the screen past her girlfriend. “The video Mike showed us was great. You really are amazing dancers. Why aren’t you in college for dance?”

“Oh, I’m not that good,” Quinn says. “I’m okay, I was a cheerleader so I must be okay but Mike played to my strengths.”

“Don’t believe a word she says,” Kurt says snorting at her words. “She’s really good.” Then he shrugs. “And I do well too, but the stage is my future. Broadway.”

“Fair enough,” Meghan says.

 

“How was LA?” Quinn asks as soon as the connection forms, making Kurt laugh. Mike’s answering smile is positively radiant even via Skype.

“It was great,” Mike says, “I loved every minute of it.”

“That we can see,” Kurt says. “Come on, tell us all about it.”

And that he does. Mike tells them about the song, Mercedes’ voice ( _“She’s singing even better now. I didn’t think it was possible, but she proved that it was.”_ ), the other dancers, the funny camera man ( _“He made some ‘behind the scenes’ takes that are truly hilarious.”_ ), Mercedes’ place and everything else he can think about. Kurt looks with a soft smile upon his face as he listens to his animated ramblings and he can see Quinn doing the same.

“The only bad thing is that I can’t show you the clip just yet,” Mike says. “It’s so good and I admit that part of it is me wanting to show off, but everyone was great and it couldn’t have turned out better.”

“Now I can’t wait either,” Quinn says and Kurt nods in agreement.

“When is the release?” he asks.

“Two weeks from now,” Mike tells them. “There is going to be a party and everything. I’m invited, but that would mean missing even more classes and that’s not going to happen.”

“Well, there is always the next time,” Kurt says.

“Next time?” Mike asks. “I don’t have anything else planned.”

“No, you don’t,” Kurt agrees. “But that’s just a matter of time.”

“He’s right,” Quinn says, “In a few years everyone is going to want you to dance for them.”

“Mercedes is just lucky that she’s the first,” Kurt adds.

The more they say, the redder Mike gets. “Guys…” he says.

“Not a guy,” Quinn says pointing at herself.

“I know,” Mike says, “But you two… do you really believe that?”

“Yes,” they both say in unison.

“We’ve seen you dance for years, Mike,” Quinn says. “We know how good you are.”

“It just takes some time for the rest of the world to catch up,” Kurt says.

 

“Oh, no. No, no, no! You stay,” Cassandra July says, waving the girl she’s talking to towards the other side of the room. “Next. Twinkle, your turn.”

Kurt takes a deep breath as he moves to take his place. Miss July has been working them hard today and she won’t let them leave unless they can do what she wants. Out of the ten people that went before him, only two were allowed to leave.

As the music starts Kurt places those thoughts out of his head and just moves. There is no other thing to do. He spins and steps in the right moments. It takes almost a minute but it feels a lot longer. When he’s done, he lets out the tiniest sigh of relief; at least he didn’t fall.

He turns to Miss July and the stern look on her face makes him freeze. “Did you look at that?” she asks turning her gaze to the people she deemed not good enough. “That is what I told you to do. You won’t leave until you do it just as well.” She turns back and gives Kurt a nod of approval. “Not bad, Twinkle. Grab your stuff and go.”

Kurt doesn’t need to be told twice. Before she can change her mind, he gathers his bag and hoodie and almost runs out of the room. Miss July isn’t even looking, too busy yelling at the next student, but he’s still glad to be out of her range.

He doesn’t go far, just far enough to be away from the studio, and he sits down on the stairs. He needs a moment to relax after the tense class to calm down before doing anything else. And to drink something. He grabs his bottle of water and takes his phone out of his bag.

 **Mike Chang:** Skype tonight?

 **Quinn Fabray:** Sure

 **Quinn Fabray:** As long as it is after eight. I’m having dinner with some people

 **Mike Chang:** That is fine

 **Mike Chang:** And you Kurt?

The last message was almost two hours ago, in the middle of his class. Looking at the time he sees that he still has an hour to get home before eight.

 **Kurt Hummel:** Sounds great. I can wait to hear some kindred voices after today.

Before he can put his phone away, there is a response.

 **Mike Chang:** You okay?

 **Kurt Hummel:** I’m fine

 **Kurt Hummel:** Just out of class, though. It was tiring.

 **Mike Chang:** Just now? It’s past seven!

 **Kurt Hummel:** Miss July

 **Mike Chang:** Ah. That says it all

 **Kurt Hummel:** I thought so. Going home now, so I talk to you tonight

 **Mike Chang:** Okay, bye!

 

It’s over an hour later when Kurt finally walks into the apartment.

“You’re late,” Santana calls out immediately. “We ate dinner hours ago.”

“I figured that much,” Kurt says as he walks over to where she and Rachel are watching TV. “My last class of the day was with Miss July, though.”

“Oh, she made you stay late?” Rachel asks with sympathy in her voice. “I’m glad I don’t have her class as a last class this semester.”

“She made us all stay until seven, then those of us who could do the choreography could leave. I did well, luckily, but then there was something broken in the subway. Don’t know what it was, don’t care, except for the fact that it kept me out even later.” He stretches his neck as he walks towards his room, wincing as something snaps. “Is there any dinner left?”

“Nope,” Santana says, “We thought you would have eaten somewhere by now.”

“I wish,” Kurt mutters as he drops his bag. Now he has to cook dinner as well. He supposes there are worse things. And now he can make a small portion of something really good, just for him. But before moving towards the kitchen, he grabs his laptop and the necessary related items. No reason why he can’t open Skype while cooking.

It takes a few minutes but then he can start up Skype before he moves over to the fridge to see what they have. The first thing he does is sighing. It’s clear that neither of the girls got some groceries and there isn’t much left.

Before he can come to a decision, his laptop starts making sounds and Kurt walks over to accept the video call. He leans on the counter waiting for the connection to form. He smiles as Quinn and Mike come into view.

“Hi guys.” he says giving them a small wave.

“Hello.” Quinn says with a smile of her own and Mike waves back.

“I’m making dinner, so I’ll be walking around,” he tells them before diving into the closest cupboard.

“Dinner? At this time?” Quinn asks.

“I thought you left class over an hour ago,” Mike adds.

“Yeah, trouble in the subway,” Kurt says. He smiles triumphantly as he finds half a bag of pasta. “Food!” he exclaims showing them the bag and getting out a pan. He hears Mike and Quinn laughing at his antics but he doesn’t mind, he’s too happy to have found something edible.

“Who’re you talking to?” Santana asks from the couch, not even turning around.

“People that wouldn’t let me starve,” he answers making Mike snort and Quinn giggle.

“Probably Quinn and Mike again,” he hears Rachel mutter. His roommates start whispering but Kurt just rolls his eyes.

“Just imagine that they’re polite and said hi, okay? I’m not in the mood to make them do it,” Kurt says.

Mike shakes his head. “It’s just like you are their parent.”

“It feels like that most of the time. They would not survive a month without supervision,” Kurt tells him as he grabs the remaining vegetables and the barstool. “Not in the least because Santana would kill Rachel in her sleep.” He settles in next to his laptop and starts chopping.

“Yeah, I could see that happening,” Mike admits, “But time to get down to business.”

“Time for you to tell why you wanted this chat,” Quinn says. “I tried asking him but he wouldn’t say a thing before you were here.”

“And she wouldn’t accept that I just wanted to see her gorgeous face,” Mike says with a pout.

“If you were pulling that face, I wouldn’t believe you either,” Kurt teases making Mike pout even more dramatically.

“You’re so mean,” he says before shaking his head. “But seriously, I had a reason for calling. My parents and I picked a date during which I’ll be in Lima.”

“Ooh…” Quinn says moving a little closer to the screen. “You have dates that we can plan around?”

“Yeah.” Mike nods. “The first two weeks of August. I’ll arrive on August 1st and I’ll be there until the 15th.”

Kurt pulls his phone out of his pocket, opening his agenda and sees Quinn doing the same on his laptop. It only takes a few minutes to figure out that as long as Kurt can get those weeks off from work, they can all be in Lima during that time.

“That would be great,” Quinn says happily.

 

When they’re all in Lima, it’s like they never spent any time apart. Of course they’ve kept in contact almost constantly but the way they slide together and get along is almost like they’re people that have been living together for quite some time. At first it creeps the few (ex) New Directions also in Lima a little out but like with most things in Lima, eventually everyone shrugs and moves on to the next interesting thing.

After only a few days, Burt barely looks up if instead of only one, three teenagers invade his house, or when Mike comes to pick Kurt up. Quinn’s mother invites Kurt and Mike to join her and Quinn for dinner every other day which they’ve accepted twice so far, Quinn is happy to spend the time with her mother. Mike’s mother likes to make them snacks when they’re all over, enough to _“feed those teenage boys, who are always hungry”_. Mike’s father is actually the one with the most trouble, mostly because he has difficulty talking about colleges when all three of them are studying in the arts. He may have accepted it but understanding is a very different thing.

Since it’s been getting warmer these past few days including today, they have decided to go to the pool to cool off. Going against what most people expect from teenagers, they get there quite early, just after the pool opens, before the real heat hits and before the screaming kids arrive.

Mike is, unsurprisingly, the first one out of the dressing rooms, having simply put on his trunks. Since they are early, not every shadow spots are taken yet and he quickly moves over to claim a spot under the tree. He puts his towel down and sits on it enjoying the fresh air as he waits for the others.

Kurt is the next one out. Mike has to blink for a moment as Kurt steps into the sun, because, well, Kurt’s skin is really light. It almost sparkles, it’s so light. Mike snorts at his own thoughts. He sounds like those vampire movies Lauren and Tina liked to talk about.

“You’re going to burn, aren’t you?” Mike asks as Kurt spreads out his own towel next to his.

“Probably,” Kurt says with a sigh, “But I have sunscreen so I’m going to try to keep it to a minimum.”

“Good idea,” Mike says with a nod. He put his own sunscreen on at home. And being flexible comes in handy in times like that; he can reach his back all by himself.

He takes a moment to see if Quinn is outside but he doesn’t see her yet. He turns back to Kurt to talk about how long girls take with anything involving any kind of dressing and clothes but the thought leaves his head immediately.

Kurt is simply putting on sunscreen, but somehow it doesn’t seem so simple. As Kurt spreads the sunscreen over his arms, Mike is sort of mesmerized. He tilts his head and watches the movements of the muscles underneath the pale, pale skin. He feels his cheeks heat up but he isn’t quite sure why.

That changes as Kurt moves to his legs. As Kurt’s hands spread sunscreen over his thigh, Mike feels heat stirring, not only on his face, but also lower down. After a moment he swallows and tears his eyes away.

He busies himself with checking his bag to see if he packed his sunglasses. (He’s pretty sure he did, but it can’t hurt to check, right?)

“Can you help me?” Kurt asks making Mike look back up. Thankfully his blush has receded. He wouldn’t know how to explain that.

“With what?” he asks.

“I can’t reach my back,” Kurt says toying with the sunscreen bottle.

“Oh…” Mike says, “Sure.” He takes the bottle from Kurt and quickly moves behind him because for some reason the blush is returning in twofold. He puts some of the sunscreen on his hands and spreads it over Kurt’s back. Kurt takes a deep breath and rolls his shoulders a bit under Mike’s hands which makes Mike’s breath speed up a bit in response.

“Putting Mike to work, I see. Great idea. Can you do my back too?” Both boys look up to see that Quinn has arrived, busying herself with putting her own towel down. And that doesn’t help Mike’s state at all because Quinn came out in a bikini that shows of her wonderful body. It’s clear to see that Quinn takes care of her body since it is quite toned. He knew that of course. Her cheerleading uniform had showed toned legs and a fit body. But that uniform and all of her other clothing, never showed the slight definition of Quinn’s abs. It isn’t too much, just enough to be noticeable. And just enough to be attractive, apparently.

He turns to go back to putting sunscreen on Kurt when he notices that Kurt is looking at Quinn as well. For a short moment, there is an unreadable look on Kurt’s face. He can’t be sure what it is, and after a moment he isn’t even sure if he truly saw it, it was so short.

He quickly finishes up. “You’re done.”

“Thank you Mike.” Kurt says smiling at him in thanks and taking the bottle back. Mike moves over to Quinn and takes her sunscreen which has a lower SPF than Kurt’s, predictably. But helping Quinn isn’t any better than helping Kurt. It’s just as, well… _arousing_. It’s the only word that fits. He doesn’t know how to feel about being aroused by Kurt but he isn’t freaking out, like he thinks he probably should slightly be.

 

Kurt is silently freaking out.

Sure, he liked Mike’s hands on his body. Mike is a handsome guy and though it was not his intention when he asked for help, being touched by a good looking guy in a friendly way does stir something in him. It has been two months since Adam and he broke up. And while he loves his roommates, Santana isn’t one for friendly pats on shoulders or hugs and Rachel only shows affection in a physical way when she wants to, not when someone else needs it.

So okay, Mike’s friendly touch makes him feel good and since Mike is hot, it makes it doubly good.

But that doesn’t explain his reaction to Quinn.

When he looked up to her and saw her in her bikini… It did something to him. It still does. He glances over to her and Mike, and he can’t help but think that they’re beautiful. Not only Mike, both of them.

Liking Mike is not a problem. Okay, nothing can come of it, since Mike is straight, but being attracted to Mike is well… kind of normal. Who wouldn’t like a handsome, fit and sweet guy?

On the other hand, he can’t like Quinn. He can’t. He’s gay. He likes men and he knew that even before he had the words to define it. So he can’t like Quinn. She’s a girl. A beautiful girl, but nonetheless a girl.

And he’s certain he’s not into girls. If dating Brittany, sleepovers with Mercedes or living with Rachel and Santana didn’t do anything for him, no girl ever will. He’s sure of that.

_He’s gay._

Kurt forces himself to calm down. He pushes the thoughts out of his head because they don’t mean anything and he’s here to enjoy his day. He takes a deep breath and watches as Mike stands up after he’s done with Quinn’s back.

“Swimming time.” Mike says happily and Kurt watches as he walks over to the pool. Kurt thinks he’s walking a little awkwardly but Mike jumps into the pool without a problem so he should be alright.

Kurt most certainly does not watch as Quinn applies sunscreen to the rest of her body. He doesn’t. He watches Mike, he watches the other people around the place, but he does not watch Quinn as her hands move over her legs…

He feels something stir but he pushes it down and stands up. “I think Mike has the right idea.”

 

Kurt, Mike and Quinn are halfway through their stay in Lima when Quinn gets a call.

“Quinn Fabray speaking.” she says as she answers the phone.

 _“Hello Quinn, it’s Shelby,”_ comes the answer over the line, _“I’m glad you still have the same number.”_

Quinn gasps softly, bringing a hand to her mouth. “I-I would have let you known if it changed,” she says, not knowing what else to say.

 _“I suppose that’s true,”_ Shelby says, _“Well I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m calling so I’ll get right to it. I heard that you’re in Lima right now. Since I’m currently in Ohio myself visiting some family, I thought that maybe you would like to see Beth before we leave.”_

“Oh…” Quinn says. “Yes. I would like that, yes.”

 _“I’m in Van Wert. Is it possible that you can make your way over here tomorrow?”_ Shelby asks. _“I would rather not make the drive with Beth since we’re traveling so much lately. And she doesn’t like driving all that much so I try to limit it to only necessary trips, especially since we have a long drive in front of us the day after tomorrow.”_

Quinn thinks about it for a moment. “My mom is working tomorrow and needs her car so I have to ask someone to drive me.” She rubs her chin. “Is it okay if I bring two friends? One of them has his car here and I would like for them to meet Beth.”

This time it’s Shelby that has to think for a minute. _“That’s okay, I guess,”_ she finally says. She gives Quinn the address of the place they’ll meet at the next day before saying bye and hanging up the phone.

Quinn stares out of the window for a moment before opening the chat on her phone.

 **Quinn Fabray:** You boys up for a trip tomorrow?

 **Mike Chang:** Sure

 **Mike Chang:** Where to?

 **Kurt Hummel:** Wrong order. You’re not getting out of it now, whatever it is

She chuckles while answering.

 **Quinn Fabray:** Van Wert

 **Kurt Hummel:** What’s in Van Wert?

 **Quinn Fabray:** Beth

 **Quinn Fabray:** Shelby called, asking if I want to see her while we’re both in Ohio

 **Quinn Fabray:** And if Mike is willing to drive, I can

 **Kurt Hummel:** We get to meet her?

 **Mike Chang:** Sure!

 **Quinn Fabray:** Yes, Shelby said it’s fine

 **Quinn Fabray:** Thanks Mike

 **Kurt Hummel:** Oh! I’d love to see her

 **Kurt Hummel:** I can’t wait to see what see looks like now

 **Mike Chang:** Get of your laptop, Kurt. You’re typing too fast

 **Kurt Hummel:** Haha. But sorry, no

 **Kurt Hummel:** How late do we have to be there?

 **Mike Chang:** You’re mean

 **Kurt Hummel:** I know.

 **Quinn Fabray:** 1pm. They will have eaten lunch by then

 **Kurt Hummel:** So we have time to get her a little something!

She hadn’t even thought about it. But getting Beth a present sounds like a great idea.

 **Quinn Fabray:** Yes. That would be nice

 **Mike Chang:** Shopping in Lima or Van Wert?

 **Kurt Hummel:** Lima. While I would love to check out a different mall, we know where the kid stores are here

 **Mike Chang:** Good point

 **Quinn Fabray:** Lima it is

 

It’s almost one o’clock when they drive into a parking lot close to the park where they’re meeting Shelby and Beth.

“Are you nervous?” Kurt asks Quinn.

“A little,” Quinn admits while clutching the stuffed elephant she bought for Beth tightly in her hand. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen her.”

Kurt wraps an arm around her, the other holding the present from him and Mike. “It will be fine,” he tells her. She nods but Kurt can see that she’s still just as nervous. He wishes he could make her feel less nervous but the only thing he and Mike can do is to be there for her. As he thinks that, Mike comes up on her other side and also wraps an arm around her.

“Come on,” he says, “Let’s see that little girl.”

They walk to the park in a slightly tense silence. Quinn freezes the moment they step of the sidewalk and enter the park/walk into the park. The boys stop with her and look at her.

“There they are,” Quinn says pointing to the left. And indeed, they’re there. They’re sitting on a blanket spread out on the grass and Shelby is watching as Beth plays with a doll. For a moment they just watch. Kurt almost can’t believe that the girl playing over there, is the same little girl he saw in the hospital three years ago.

In the store, where an employee helped them with getting the right size for an outfit to give to Beth (like he could resist buying clothes for a little girl), he had trouble believing that she pointed out the right size. Now he’s glad that he listened to her otherwise he would have bought something way too small.

“Shall we go say hello?” Kurt suggests softly.

Quinn nods and after taking a deep breath she starts moving again.

As they get closer, Shelby notices them and smiles up at the three of them. “Hello,” she says while standing up. She looks at Quinn for a moment. Then she steps forward and gives her a quick hug which Quinn awkwardly returns. “It’s good to see you. You’re looking well, Quinn.”

“Thank you. You’re looking great yourself,” Quinn says. Then she motions to Kurt and Mike. “These are the friends I was talking about. Kurt Hummel and Mike Chang.”

“Nice to meet you,” Mike says shaking her hand. Then Kurt does the same.

“It really is nice too meet you, after everything I’ve heard about you,” Kurt says and Shelby narrows her eyes a little in thought.

“Kurt, right?” she asks to which Kurt nods. “I believe Rachel has mentioned a Kurt before…”

Kurt grins a little. “Quite possible,” he says, “She’s one of my roommates.”

Shelby snaps her fingers. “Yes, that’s it. You go to NYADA as well, right?”

“I do,” Kurt confirms. When he glances at Quinn his grin softens. Shelby turns a little and out of the corner of his eye Kurt can see her smile as well. And Mike’s face isn’t any different.

Quinn is looking at Beth, a little emotional but mostly happy. Beth in turn looks up at her, the picture of curiosity.

“Mommy? Who’s all that?” Beth asks.

Shelby hesitates for a moment while looking at Quinn. Quinn looks back and slightly shrugs.

“That is Quinn, sweetie. Aunt Quinn,” she finally says, still looking at Quinn. Quinn thinks it over for a moment and then smiles, clearly okay with that honorary title.

“Like Auntie Helen?” Beth asks and Shelby nods.

“My sister,” she clarifies for the others.

“Auntie Quinn,” Beth says looking at Quinn with a smile, “Will you play with me?”

“Sure,” Quinn says and sits down next to Beth. “I even brought you something to play with.” She hands Beth the stuffed elephant.

“Ooh!” Beth exclaims clapping excitedly in her hands before taking the elephant from Quinn, making everyone laugh. “What’s his name?”

“You can pick a name,” Quinn tells her which makes Beth even more excited.

“Dumbo! Dumbo can fly!”

“You got her into the Disney classics?” Kurt asks Shelby while they and Mike sit down as well.

“Yes, and she loves them,” Shelby tells them. “Watch.” She starts humming softly and while he can’t place it, it does seem familiar.

 _“Undeh the sea!”_ Beth sings suddenly and she almost dances in place. “ _Undeh the sea! Dawling it’s betteh, down whewe it’s wetteh, take it from me!_ Little Mewmaid, Mommy!”

“Yes it is, sweetie. Good job,” Shelby says, “She has trouble getting her ‘ _R_ ’ right but that doesn’t bother her when she likes to sing something.”

“That’s adorable,” Kurt says.

Beth turns to look at him. “Who you?”

“My name is Kurt,” he tells her, “And this is Mike. We’re friends of your Auntie Quinn.”

“Kuwt and Mike,” Beth says pointing at them in turn. Then she points at herself. “I’m Beth!”

“Nice to meet you Beth,” Mike says.

“We have a present for you.” Kurt holds out the package and Beth accepts it with a happy smile. “I hope you don’t mind,” Kurt says to Shelby as Beth tears into the pink wrapping, “It’s just, when we saw it, we couldn’t resist. Or well… _I_ couldn’t.”

“It’s fine,” Shelby assures him, “My family only consists of my parents, my sister and us two, so she doesn’t have too many people spoiling her. A present now and then doesn’t hurt.”

“Mommy, look!” Beth yells to get Shelby’s attention. “Pwetty dwess!”

“You don’t have to shout sweetie, I’m right here,” Shelby says. Then she takes the dress that Beth holds out to her. “That’s a very pretty dress. And in your favorite color too.”

“Blue! Blue dwess!” Then she holds up the tights that go with the dress. “Evewything blue!”

“What do you say, Beth?” Shelby asks as Beth hands her the tights as well.

“Oh! Thank you!” Beth says happily, smiling widely at all of them. “Thank you fow Dumbo and fow the pwetty dwess!”

“You’re welcome Beth,” Mike says.

Beth stands up, going around and giving them all a hug. First Mike, then Kurt and finally Quinn. After giving her the hug Beth stays seated on Quinn’s lap pulling her doll and the newly dubbed ‘Dumbo’ to her.

“This is Mimi,” she tells Quinn while showing her the doll. “Mimi and Dumbo will be best fwiends!”

“That’s good,” Quinn says smiling at Beth. “I’m glad that Dumbo will have a friend and will be happy.”

“I take cawe of Dumbo,” Beth says with a decisive nod.

Kurt can’t help but smile as he looks at the two of them. He can see things that she’s got from Puck in her, yes. Her smile is just like his. But it’s also easy to see that Beth and Quinn are related. The little girl is just as beautiful as her mother. And while she looks still a little nervous, it is also close to natural to see Quinn with the toddler on her lap. They’re both smiling. If it does something to his insides to see Quinn like that… Well, that’s not happening, so no use thinking about it.

He glances at Shelby but he can’t detect anything that suggests that she’s unhappy with the situation.

Then Beth turns to Shelby. “Mommy, can I take Auntie Quinn and Kuwt and Mike to the slide?”

“Sure sweetie,” Shelby says.

Quinn looks at Mike and Kurt for a moment before turning back to Beth. “Is it okay if I stay with your mom?” She looks at the boys again and Kurt understands that she wants a moment with Shelby. He gives her a nod.

Beth thinks about it. “Okay,” she says, “But Mike and Kuwt have to come with me!”

“You heard the lady,” Kurt says smiling at Mike. They both stand up and before they can take a step, Beth grabs both of them by their hands and drags them towards the small playground.

 

Mike can’t help but laugh at the sight in front of him. Beth dragged a protesting Kurt up the slide and now he’s sitting behind her, holding onto her to slide together at Beth’s insistence. Kurt just looks plain awkward, and… well adorable.

“Go!” Beth yells. She shakes Kurt’s knee when he isn’t fast enough in following her demand. “Go!”

“Alright, alright,” Kurt tells her pushing off and going down the slide with her. Beth lets out a happy squeal.

“Again, let’s go again Kuwt,” she asks of him while pulling on his arm.

“Maybe you should ask Mike. Otherwise he’ll get lonely,” Kurt tells her.

“Good idea.” Beth tells Kurt before dragging Mike over to the slide.

“You afraid of slides, Kurt?” Mike teases his friend as he walks up the stairs behind Beth.

Kurt snorts. “More of little girls,” he says. “I’ve never dealt with a child that young.”

“Never?” Mike asks. He has trouble believing it. “Not even some younger cousins or something?”

“My mother was an only child,” Kurt tells, “And my only cousin on my father’s side is eight years older than I am. The last time I saw her was at her wedding when I was thirteen. After that she moved to the West, all the way to Nevada where her husband is originally from.”

“That’s not a distance to easily visit, no,” Mike says. “My mom has a younger brother and he has a few kids. I see them sometimes at birthdays. So I have played with younger kids.” He sits down and slides down with Beth who’s squealing again.

“Mike is good at slides,” Beth tells them and Mike smiles in return, then he watches as Beth walks the few feet between her and Kurt and she stretches her arms out to him. “Can you pick me up, Kuwt? I wanna be tall like you and Mike.”

“Uh, okay.” Kurt says. He picks her up and it’s a good thing that Beth knows how to settle herself against someone since Kurt clearly has no idea. But whether he knows it or not, Beth seems happy there.

“Now we awe all tall,” she says. She waves at Shelby and Quinn who wave back at her. “I like this.”

“Good to know,” Kurt says. It might just be a little sarcastic but Mike can see that Kurt is also a tad pleased at her words. “Do you also think that this is doing Quinn some good?” Kurt asks him.

“Yeah,” Mike say, “She’s clearly happy that Beth is doing so well. It’s good for her to know that she made the right choice.”

 

“How is she doing?” Quinn asks as soon as Beth and the boys are out of earshot.

“She doing great,” Shelby says, “She is growing well, she gets along with kids her age… The only problem I have is with getting her to eat her vegetables. Green vegetables, that is. She likes carrots just fine.”

“Good,” Quinn says. “Well, not about the vegetables but that’s she’s doing well.”

“I figured that,” Shelby says with a soft smile.

“Thank you for calling me,” Quinn says, “It’s good to see her.”

“I thought it would be good for you. For all of us, to be honest. I know that I had some trouble never seeing Rachel, and Rachel had questions as well.” Shelby sighs looking at Beth. “Sooner or later she’s going to asks questions. Why she has no dad, why she doesn’t look like me… It’s probably still some time away but I think it’s good if you and Noah are not complete strangers to her.”

“I think I’ll like being an aunt for her,” Quinn says. “I’m still so sorry for last year. You’re her mother. And you’re doing a great job.”

“Thanks Quinn,” Shelby says smiling at her.

“How did you know I was in Ohio, though?” Quinn asks. She’s been wondering ever since she hung up the day before.

“I met up with Will Schuester and his wife Emma,” she answers, “And the man is always happy to tell how his students are doing whether he still teaches them or not.”

Quinn giggles at that. That’s Mr. Schuester for you. Then she giggles again at the sight of the boys playing with Beth on the slide. “She works fast,” Quinn says, “She just met them but she already has them wrapped around her little fingers.”

“It’s the happiness,” Shelby says. “Most people have trouble saying no to such a cheerful kid.”

For a moment they just watch them. They wave back as Beth waves at them and watch as she makes Kurt and Mike swing her between them. She doesn’t really know why, but it’s really attractive to see them being good with Beth.

“So which one of them are you dating?” Shelby asks shaking her from her thoughts. She needs a moment to figure out what the question was and she blinks in confusion for a second.

“Neither,” she finally says.

“Oh,” Shelby says surprised. “You just looked so close to them, walking here and with the look you had watching them just now, I thought that one of them must be your boyfriend.”

“We’re just really good friends,” Quinn says. Okay, they are handsome friends but friends nonetheless.

 

On their final day in Lima they decide to just relax. It’s a beautiful day and even though the air-conditioning is working hard inside, they prefer to stay outside. Partly because Mike’s garden doesn’t contain any parents while the house itself does.

They lie in the shade of a parasol on the, by now, familiar blanket that Mike brought out again. They’re lying close, almost close enough to cuddle, if it wasn’t for the temperature. Mike thinks that maybe they’re a little too close together since he is between Kurt and Quinn and gets the most body heat, but he kind of likes having them close and so he doesn’t say a thing.

“These two weeks have flown by,” Kurt mutters.

“They did,” Quinn agrees, “But can we talk of happier stuff? We leave tomorrow morning, so we have today to still have fun, right?”

“As much fun as there can be in this heat,” Mike says, “I’m not going to dance today.”

 _“No sir no dancing today,”_ Kurt sings softly before laughing at himself. “But you’re right, it’s too hot to dance.”

“Today is for lying here and doing next to nothing,” Quinn says and Kurt hums in agreement.

They just lie there for a moment and Mike feels content. It makes him happy, spending time with Quinn and Kurt, no matter what they’re doing. By now he knows that he likes them, has crushes on them. He doesn’t really know what to do with it and he doesn’t know how they feel. That is troubling him but other than that, it doesn’t really bother him.

Okay, he’s a little bothered by how it doesn’t bother him. Kurt is a guy and no matter how you look at him, that makes him not completely straight. He doesn’t know why he doesn’t care about that. He never had a problem with Kurt and Blaine being gay, or being a couple, but that’s different from accepting it from himself, right?

Something that does bother him is that he has no idea how his parents would react to him admitting that he likes a boy. He knows he doesn’t have to tell them right now. He doesn’t know what’s going to happen, so he’s not going to tell them before he has figured that out. But his parents never gave any indication one way or the other. Maybe that’s a good thing. And they don’t have anything against Kurt. But maybe it’s different with their own son?

He barely keeps in a deep sigh. Today isn’t the day to wonder about these things. Like Quinn said, today is for happy things.

“You two going to do anything fun during the rest of your vacation?” he asks.

“Work,” Kurt says immediately. “But during the break from NYADA, I work extra hours at Vogue so yeah, that’s fun.”

“I have plans to see some movies that are coming out this summer with the girls as soon as we’re all back,” Quinn tells them. “But first I’m going to Boston, where I’ll stay with Jennifer for a few weeks. Naomi will be in Boston for a few days as well, she’s staying at Amy’s place. Amy and Jennifer can’t wait to show us around. And we’ll probably catch the first of the movies on the list while we’re all there.”

“How close do Amy and Jennifer live?” Mike asks.

“Very close. The same street.”

“No wonder they’re so close. They practically grew up together.” Kurt says.

“They did,” Quinn confirms, “They’ve been best friends as long as they can remember.”

Again there is silence for a moment but it’s a comfortable silence. They don’t need to talk all the time, they can just be.

Quinn puts her hand up, looking at it. “I’m going to paint them green, like my dress,” she muses out loud.

“Your hands?” Mike asks her jokingly which earns him a smack from Quinn’s other hand. “Ouch! Don’t hit me!”

“Idiot,” she says but she’s laughing.

“I think it will look good,” Kurt says before putting up his own hand. “It isn’t fair, you know. Girls get all the fun. With the make-up and the nails.”

“Like you ever let that stop you,” Quinn says.

“True,” Kurt says, “But there are lines I can’t cross without looking like a drag queen. Nothing wrong with that but it’s not for me.”

“Do you think I could rock that?” Mike jokes but as he turns his head to look at Kurt, he sees the other boy thinking it over.

“Maybe,” Kurt considers, “As long as you got a wig that suits your skin tone.”

“You do know that I was joking, right?” Mike asks him.

“Fashion choices are never a joking matter.” Kurt deadpans making Quinn giggle.

“I’m sorry, Mister-I-work-at-Vogue-dot-com.” Mike teases.

“I suppose I’ll forgive you this time, you heathen,” Kurt says in a haughty tone.

“You’re both idiots.” Quinn tells them while laughing.

“Hey, I resent that! Mike is the only idiot.” Kurt protests.

“Takes one to know one.” Mike mutters getting smacked from both sides this time. “That’s not fair! You know, I’m suddenly feeling a lot less safe here between the two of you.” They both get up a few inches, look at each other and cackle in unison. Mike isn’t quite sure what to think of it.

“Don’t worry, we like you,” Quinn says patting his arm.

“We wouldn’t hurt you,” Kurt continues. “Not permanently, at least.”

“Gee, I feel so much better now,” Mike says, sarcasm clear to hear.

“See? We’re nice to you,” Quinn says with an innocent smile.

“Right. Nice.” Mike looks up at the parasol. “I’d hate to find out how it is if you’re being mean.”

“Simple solution,” Kurt says, “Just make sure you stay on our good side.”

 

“I wonder how the recent Graduates are doing with their final Summer in Lima,” Mike says.

“You mean Tina?” Quinn asks. There is something in her voice that he can’t define but when he looks at her, he can’t see anything in her face.

“Not really,” Mike says, “I haven’t talked to her in months. The last time was, well at Regionals and then just about the choreography.”

“Well, Sam isn’t in Lima, he’s with his family,” Kurt says.

“That’s probably a good thing too,” Quinn mutters. “I heard that he made out with Tina sometime before Graduation. That gets him a five out of six for the original girls.”

“I know that Mercedes is glad that he’s not here when she’ll visit her family,” Kurt says. “There are still some feelings left there, I think, and she doesn’t want to deal with drama in her time here.”

“At least the newbies are kind of drama free, right? They will have a quiet year coming,” Mike says but he hears disagreeing sounds on both sides.

“They have the drama covered,” Kurt says.

“Oh?” Mike inquires.

“Marley is dating Jake, but Ryder likes her and they’ve kissed at some point. Unique likes Ryder. Kitty is dating Artie, but I doubt that they will last now that Artie graduated, and she liked Jake at some point, so she could make trouble.” As Quinn takes a breath, Mike wonders for a moment how she knows all that. Or how he missed a lot of that. “But, well, we original New Directions weren’t much better.”

“Yeah, the New Directions always have been kind of incapable of dating outside the club,” Kurt says. “And if it happened, the other half of the couple joined the New Directions at some point, most of the time.”

“I haven’t been that bad,” Mike points out.

“Me neither,” Kurt says, “I only dated Blaine. And you’ve only been with Tina, right?”

“Well, I only seriously dated Tina,” Mike says. “But I’ve slept with Brittany.”

“You did?” Quinn asks. “When did that happen?”

“Sophomore year,” Mike says staring at the parasol above him again. “When we started dancing together, she said we should have sex to get to know each other’s body’s better. Well, who was I to turn that down?”

“No straight, teenage boy would tell her no, I think,” Kurt says. “But to clarify, I only dated and only slept with Blaine.”

“And you, Quinn?” Mike asks. “As far as I know, you dated four people, if you count Joe, but slept with just the one.” Quinn hesitates for a moment so Mike looks at her. She seems a little troubled. “That isn’t right?”

“It’s close, but not completely right. It’s four and two,” she admits.

“Two?” Kurt asks. “I know it isn’t Finn. He would have told me by now.”

“Not Finn, no.”

“But you weren’t that close with Joe, and I wouldn’t think that you would sleep with Sam so quick after Beth,” Kurt muses out loud and Mike has to agree with him.

“You’re right about that too,” Quinn states softly.

“Well, I’m out of ideas,” Mike says.

“I can’t think of anyone either,” Kurt adds. “So, who is it?”

It takes a few moments and Mike can see her turning red. “Santana,” she finally confesses.

Mike blinks. He did not see that one coming. And clearly Kurt didn’t either.

“Really?” Kurt asks in surprise, his voice a little higher than normal.

“Yes,” Quinn says, “Not in High School but last February at the wedding that wasn’t a wedding.”

Kurt snorts. “Almost everyone, barring the bride and groom of the day, had an interesting evening in the hotel, apparently.”

“I didn’t,” Mike says. And he’s quite glad about it. It would have only resulted in drama.

“Did you want to see other people before leaving?” Kurt asks.

“What do you mean?” Mike asks.

“Well, you were talking about wanting to know how the recent Graduates are doing. If you want to see them that would have to happen today,” Kurt says.

“Oh, no,” Mike says. “I’m curious but not _that_ curious.” He half shrugs which feels a little awkward lying down. “You two are the people I wanted to see most. If any of the New Directions that graduated our year would be here, I would probably want to meet up with them. Or Brittany. But otherwise…”

“I’m a little sad that my time here doesn’t overlap with Finn’s time here at all,” Kurt says. “But other than him, I don’t mind that much. Probably because I have a few Lima people living with me.”

Quinn chuckles. “No ‘probably’ about that.”

 

Kurt and Quinn stay for dinner and afterwards they lie down in the garden again. They talk for hours, and the sun is lowering, casting bigger shadows and leaving the garden without its warmth. At some point Mike feels Quinn shiver beside him. “Are you cold?” he asks her.

“A little.” she says.

“Well, come here,” Mike says, “I’ll keep you warm.” Quinn looks at him with raised eyebrows. “I’m serious,” he tells her. “Friends can cuddle, right?”

“Sure,” Kurt says, “Rachel demands them quite often now that she’s single.”

“See?” Mike says. “Come on.”

Quinn thinks it over for a moment, but then comes closer and puts her head on his shoulder. “You’re warm,” she mutters.

“I know, that’s why I said it.” Then he notices that Kurt looks slightly longingly at them. “Well, come on, Kurt,” he says wanting to make that look leave. “You too. I have two shoulders.”

“I don’t know…” Kurt hesitates, though Mike can see that he wants to.

“You’re the one that agreed with me that friends can cuddle, so come on.”

While Kurt moves and lies his head on Mike’s shoulder as well, Mike smiles, wrapping his arms softly around them. It feels right. Like something he could get used to. It’s really too bad that they’re all leaving in the morning.

 

“Your boys again?” Amy asks smiling widely as Quinn is typing on her phone.

“What makes you think that?” she evades. Okay, she is replying to something they said but Amy looks way too smug.

“It’s always your boys,” Jennifer answers instead of her cousin. Her eyes never leave Naomi’s long, red hair, which she is braiding while sitting cross-legged behind her on her bed. It’s true, though. It’s been a few months after their Summer Break in Lima, but they’re still almost always talking to each other, one way or another.

“I still don’t get why you insist on calling them my boys,” Quinn mutters a little petulant. Amy only laughs, playing with the tip of her own braid which Jennifer did a few minutes earlier.

“Because they are,” Amy says happily. “Not counting anything else, they would do anything for you, anything you asked of them. So, your boys.”

Quinn shakes her head and lets herself fall back on Amy’s bed. “It is not like that.”

“Like what?” Amy asks quickly.

“We’re friends. I would do a lot for them as well,” Quinn answers. Then she frowns. Why is she defending the friendship so much?

“We know,” Jennifer says. “But most people plan their first college Summer vacation around the time their parents have time off. Not around their friends’ vacation.”

“It’s not like my mother could get any time off,” Quinn protests, but the brunette cousins are not letting it go.

“Still. You didn’t consult any other friends before planning your stay in Lima. Just with the two of them,” Amy says.

“They were the ones I really wanted to see.”

“That’s what we mean,” Jennifer says while tying off Naomi’s braid with a simple black band. “Not the girls that you spent so much time with as cheerleaders, not some of the girls of that were in that Glee Club. No, you wanted to spend your time with two boys, with whom you weren’t even that close with during High School.”

“So what? That was clearly a mistake with how well we get along now.”

Amy and Jennifer sigh and share a look that must mean a lot to the both of them but Quinn can’t decipher it. In the resulting silence, Naomi looks up from the notebook she’s been writing in.

“You’re in love with them.”

More silence.

“What?” Quinn asks sitting up. “No, I’m not.” She sputters for a moment. What on earth is Naomi thinking? “Have you lost your mind?”

“No,” is Naomi’s simple answer, before she continues writing.

“You truly didn’t realize it?” Jennifer asks.

Quinn looks around the room in disbelieve. Naomi doesn’t look up again but both Amy and Jennifer look at her with sympathy clearly written upon their faces. “But…”

“Quinn,” Jennifer says softly, “Just think about it for a moment.”

She starts to protest again but Jennifer shushes her and Quinn shuts her mouth. She isn’t in love with them. She loves them, yes. They’re her friends. Of course she wants to spent time with her friends.

She loves how she and Kurt can bitch about things, how he doesn’t judge her for anything. She adores how Mike knows how to cheer her or Kurt up when they’re down. Not minimizing the problems, but making everything feel a bit lighter. She likes how protective they both are, not only of her, but of all the people they care about.

She’s also happy with how they never judge her or come down on her on anything concerning Beth. They never said anything ugly to her while she was pregnant and they never make a problem of it when she wants to talk about her, and they were so sweet when meeting her… They make a high standard for any man to measure up to.

And of course they are handsome. She would have to be blind to not see that. They’re both muscled in all the right places. Mike has always moved in a confident, graceful way and over the past year Kurt has also grown into his body, making him look wonderful as well.

But that doesn’t mean she’s in love with them. She can’t imagine dating either of them. Or kissing. Or doing more… Or, well… But…

“No, no. I. This can’t be,” Quinn stutters while shaking her head in denial. “I. No. Kurt is gay. Mike lives in Chicago. And… How can I be in love with both of them? Two people at the same time?”

Amy slides over and wraps her arms around Quinn. “Oh honey,” she says hugging her tightly, “It will be okay.”

Quinn lets herself sink into the embrace. “But what do I do now?”

“Nothing,” Naomi says, this time not even looking up, “For now. When will you see them again?”

“Christmas, at the latest. Maybe even sooner,” Quinn tells them.

“So wait until then, see how things go there,” Naomi says.

“It’s not a bad idea,” Jennifer says moving over to Amy’s bed and sitting behind Quinn. Quinn relaxes a little as she feels Jennifer’s hands moving through her hair, starting on another braid.

“But nothing can come of it,” Quinn says.

“You don’t know that,” Amy says moving back and smiling mischievously. “A year ago you wouldn’t have thought that you would ever sleep with a girl, would you?”

“That’s different,” Quinn mutters.

“Why? You’re all young, things are not set in stone. You proved that,” Jennifer says. “And distance is not that disastrous either. Your bonds are growing stronger and stronger, living in different states. So why would a relationship be impossible?”

“But-” Quinn starts but Naomi interrupts her.

“Just leave it be for now. You can’t make a decision on your own, you need to talk to them,” Naomi tells her. “Face to face. So you have time to think about it.”

Quinn suspects that she won’t think of much else.

 

“Damn, Mike!” Meghan yells as Mike turns the wrong way and almost runs into her. Again. “What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing,” Mike says frustrated with himself.

“Nothing? I do not call this nothing. You never take this long to get a choreography down.”

Mike drags a hand over his face. “I know, I know. But I’ll get it, I promise.”

“I know, you always do,” Meghan says. “But you can’t deny that something is bothering you.” She drops down on the floor and crosses her legs underneath her. Then she pats the floor. “Come. Sit and talk.”

Mike thinks about protesting but he knows how stubborn Meghan is and just sits next to her.

“So… talk,” she says looking expectantly at him.

He thinks for a moment about how he should word it but he can’t come up with anything better than; “I think I’m falling in love.”

Meghan snorts. “That much I figured. I just don’t know which one.”

Mike frowns at her. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve been all happy and smiley for quite some time. I just don’t know if it’s Quinn or Kurt that makes your heart beat faster,” she says pretending to feel faint before laughing. Mike softly pulls on her long, black hair.

“Both, I believe,” he says after a few moments. That makes Meghan blink.

“Oh,” she says. Then she tilts her head, thinking about it. “You know, that actually makes sense.”

“It does?” Mike asks surprised.

“Of course it does,” Meghan says, “The three of you make so much sense together. You probably would be so good, romantically. You complete each other.”

“You don’t think it’s strange? That I love both of them?” Mike asks.

Meghan shakes her head. “I know that love exists in more ways than we could ever imagine. Loving two people doesn’t seem all that weird to me.”

“But. I’ve never even liked a boy before.”

Meghan gives him a shove. “You’re making problems where there are none. So what if you never liked a boy before. One has to be the first.”

“Yeah, but-”

“No buts! Believe it or not, but Gabrielle is only the second girl that I ever liked like that.” Meghan tells him.

“Really?” Mike asks. “What about the first girl?”

“A girl I met when I was on a trip with my parents when I was fifteen,” Meghan says. “Nothing ever came of it, but she was the first girl I was really attracted to, so without her even knowing it, she meant a lot to me. It was confusing at first. But after thinking about it and searching online, I decided to just accept it.”

“Just like that?” Mike questions. He thought he was weird but this sounds quite familiar.

“Yeah. I couldn’t find a good reason to make a big deal out of it, so I didn’t. Since then I’ve just appreciated beauty in all its forms. Gaby was the first girl after that trip, whom I really liked and wanted to date.”

“So you’re saying that I should just accept it too?”

“No, I’m not telling you what to do. But I do believe that it’s not as big of a problem as you think right now. In my opinion, your biggest problem is figuring out if they feel the same.”

Mike shrugs. “To be honest, I am quite accepting of liking Kurt. I’m mostly wondering if I shouldn’t freak out more.”

Meghan shakes her head. “Who is to say how you should react? If you’re fine with it, you’re fine with it.”

“You know, I like the way you think. And it helps, your reaction. Not counting them liking me back, the thing that most worries me is the reactions of my parents and friends.”

“I believe that if they love you, they will just want you to be happy. If they don’t, well… It would mostly suck if it is your parents. But at least you don’t live at home anymore, right?” Meghan says.

Mike wraps an arm around her. He knows that she’s thinking of her parents and Gaby’s parents as well.

“Oh well…” Meghan says. “We’re doing fine now, and you will too, whatever happens. And you always have Gaby and me, okay?”

“Thanks, Meg,” Mike says hugging her tightly.

“You’re welcome,” Meghan answers hugging him back. “But talk to them, okay? They are the only ones that can give you the answers you’re looking for.”

“I will,” Mike reassures her. “As soon as I see them again. This is not a conversation I want to have over Skype.”

 

“Okay Lady Hummel, enough is enough,” Santana says barging into his room. “Your sulking and moping is starting to depress even me, and that is saying something.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kurt says not looking up from the book he’s trying to read. He doesn’t. He isn’t moping, because nothing is wrong.

“Yeah, right,” Santana says with an unladylike snort and she drops down on his bed next to him. “Now why don’t you tell me what’s wrong. Then we can fix it and you can prance around like a happy pony once again.”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Kurt insists.

“Please, you do know who you’re talking to, right? You’re not fooling me.”

Kurt finally looks up to glare at her. “I’m telling you, other than you bothering me, nothing is wrong.”

“Then why is my bullshit reader going through the roof?” Santana asks raising an eyebrow up at him.

“I don’t know,” Kurt says, “Maybe it’s broken.”

“Or maybe you’re lying.” Santana shoves Kurt softly in the shoulder but it’s just the thing that makes it too much.

“Stop it, Santana!” He yells startling the girl. “Maybe I just don’t want to talk about it.”

Santana blinks. Then she smirks. “So something is wrong.”

Kurt throws his book across the room. That makes Santana move back slightly. He’s never wanted to hit a girl as much as he does now. He won’t, he never would, but she makes him feel so angry.

“Why can’t you leave it alone!” he shouts at her. He gets up and goes to the kitchen. His hands itch to do something, and lacking something better, he opens the fridge and gets out the things he needs to make dinner.

Of course Santana follows him. But instead of badgering him further, she just watches him which Kurt finds almost even more unnerving. He keeps his mouth shut though.

As he picks up the knife to cut the vegetables he notices that his hands are shaking. The thought to continue anyway crosses his mind for a brief second but then he puts it down. He doesn’t want to accidently hurt himself. Instead he clenches his hands around the edge of the counter and tells himself to breathe and calm down. It only helps a little, knowing that Santana is behind him.

Then Santana breaks the silence. “Look, I’m not trying to be mean here-”

“You’re not?” Kurt asks mockingly.

“No, I’m not. And I’m not going to push you-”

“Could have fooled me.”

This time she just ignores him. “But I get the feeling that you need to talk. Because I know something is going on, something you’re not talking about to anyone, not even Mike and Quinn…” She trails of as Kurt flinches slightly at their names. He tries to hide it but Santana is too observant to miss it. “So it’s about them?”

Kurt sighs. He’s still angry but if he’s honest with himself, like he hasn’t been lately, he’s mostly angry at himself. He stares out in front of him trying to decide what to do. Talking means thinking. Thinking about things he hasn’t let himself think over.

Then Santana grabs his arm and drags him over to the couch, pushing him down on it. She sits herself down on the coffee table in front of him. “Come on, Kurt. Talk to me.”

“I don’t want to,” he tells her.

“I know. That much is clear,” she says. “But whatever it is, it’s eating you up. You can’t keep dealing with it on your own.”

He decides to start with the easy part. “I like Mike.”

Santana snorts. “Of course you do. You’d have to be a corps to not be attracted to him. I’m gay and even I can see he has some appeal.”

This time Kurt manages to not visibly react to her words. His mind starts running again, to all the things he keeps pushing away. He’s gotten quite good at it by now, and does so again without any trouble.

“But Mike isn’t. Gay, that is,” he says, focusing on that.

Santana shrugs. “If any of the guys we know would be open-minded, it would be Mike. Or Puck, but let’s not talk about that. Mike at least wouldn’t mind. And who knows, maybe it makes him think about you in a different way and makes him see what a catch you are.”

“Yeah, sure...” Kurt says. “I’m sure he would say he’s okay with it, but then it would make things unnecessarily awkward. And as for liking me back… He’s straight, Santana.”

“You can’t be sure about that,” Santana disagrees. “It took me a long time to admit to myself that I like girls.” She smiles at him. “Not everyone can be as self-aware as you are.”

He makes to stand and move away again but Santana pushes him back before he’s halfway up. “Hey, wait. What did I say?”

Kurt looks away, staring at the floor.

“Come on, Porcelain,” Santana says. “Don’t make me drag it out of you.”

It still takes a few moments for Kurt to gather his thoughts. “I… Fuck.”

Santana looks a bit shocked. “That serious, huh?”

“I’m gay,” Kurt says looking at his hands. “I’ve known that for a long time. The people around me have known for a long time. Living in Lima, being gay has been a defining part of me whether I wanted it to be or not.” And it has been. He’s been known as the gay kid before he knew what the word meant and has always been teased and ridiculed for being different.

“Yeah, I know that,” Santana says, “We all know that.”

“Exactly!” Kurt says loudly. “I’m gay, I know that, you know that, everyone knows that. So I can’t like her!”

“What?” Santana asks. “Her? Who her?” Kurt looks up and sees her looking at him with narrowed eyes. “Not Rachel, I hope.”

“Oh god, no way,” Kurt says. “I don’t know how you could even think that.”

“Well, it’s hard to imagine you liking any girl.”

“That’s because I don’t!” Kurt snaps at her.

“Then who is the girl that you don’t like?” Santana asks crossing her arms.

“…Quinn,” Kurt says. Or, more correctly, he whispers it. That doesn’t mean that Santana doesn’t hear it.

“Quinn?” Santana asks even though she clearly knows she heard it right. “Well… I don’t know what to say to that.”

“It’s not like you can judge,” Kurt mutters without thinking about it.

“She told you, huh?” Santana shrugs. “But you’re right, I can’t judge. But did you think that I would?”

Kurt snorts. “You’re one of the most judgmental people that I know.”

“Yeah. Okay. But I don’t judge you for this, okay? I know how difficult it is to question yourself,” Santana says in a soft tone.

“But I’m not,” Kurt insists. “I’m gay.” His voice shakes a bit. “I’m gay, Santana.”

Santana sighs. She moves over to sit next to him, pushing him back a little and surprising him when she cuddles up to him. She keeps quiet for a while. He knows what she’s doing but that doesn’t change that it works; he slowly relaxes.

“Feeling better?” she asks finally and he has to admit that he does.

“Yeah,” he mutters.

“So. Quinn,” she says.

“I don’t want this to happen,” Kurt says softly. “Being in unrequited love with Mike is bad enough.”

“And you truly like her?” Santana asks. “Not just strong friendship?”

“I’m sure…” he whispers. “I don’t want to be, but I am. I… Well...”

“She turns you on?” Santana asks and he can hear the smirk in her voice.

“Yeah. Just as much as Mike does.”

Neither of them has moved away. Kurt feels comforted with Santana so close. And Santana is more aware of what the people around her need than she lets on. Most of the time she just doesn’t want to act on it.

“I’m aware that it’s not what you want to hear,” Santana says, “but maybe you should figure this thing out. Like, with her.”

“I don’t know,” Kurt mutters. “I mean, what are the chances that she likes me?”

“Big chance,” Santana says. Kurt can’t detect any joking in her voice.

“What do you mean?” he asks her.

“I mean that if you were straight, girls would be falling for you left and right.”

“Now I know you’re messing with me,” Kurt says.

“I’m not,” Santana says, still sounding completely serious. “Brittany would have never let you go if you were straight. Mercedes and Rachel would have a catfight over you.” She motions towards him. “You’re a catch, Hummel. You’re handsome and kind. If you let her know that you’re interested, Quinn would probably grab onto the chance with both hands and never let go. Heck, Mike might have the same reaction.”

“You really are serious?” he states more than asks. He feels her nod against him. “I was thinking about inviting them here for Thanksgiving. Is that okay with you?”

“Sure it is,” Santana says. “Whatever Rachel thinks, it’s two against one, so you can invite them.” Then she moves back a little, looking up at him and smirking. “And if it turns out in drama, I can kick them out for you.”

“Thanks, I guess,” Kurt says snorting softly. Then he presses a kiss to her forehead. “And thank you, for making me talk.”

“You’re welcome. And you know me. I can’t leave well enough alone.”

“Well, it turned out well for me this time so right now, I don’t mind.”

 

In the following days Kurt feels himself relax more and more. The talk with Santana did him good. Okay, he still doesn’t want to think about the reactions people might have, but right now, he doesn’t have to. He can take a moment for himself to figure everything out for himself, to find acceptance in himself for liking Quinn.

He decides that he should listen to his own words. He’s always said that ‘who you love doesn’t define you’ to people that judged him only on his orientation. So that means that he shouldn’t judge himself for falling for a girl. And who knows? Quinn might be the only girl he’s ever attracted to. And if nothing comes of it, he never needs to tell anyone else.

Apparently his moodiness has been noticeable to everyone. Some of his classmates tell him they’re happy he’s feeling better. Even Rachel mentions that it’s good he’s not as glum anymore. Of course she follows it up with saying that his mood was bad for her and her acting, but it’s something, right?

Of course, Mike and Quinn notice too.

“So you’re feeling better, Kurt?” Mike asks halfway through a conversation on Skype.

“Not you too…” Kurt says with a sigh. “Was it really that noticeable?”

“You were walking around with a thundercloud above your head that could be seen from here,” Quinn says.

“And New Haven might not be that far, but I could see it too,” Mike says teasing him.

“Yeah, yeah.” Kurt grimaces for a moment but shakes himself out of it. “But yes, I’m feeling better now.”

“Want to talk about what was bothering you?” Quinn asks.

“Not really,” Kurt admits. “At least not now.”

“You do know that you can talk to us, right?” Mike inquires. “I wanted to give you time to think about things yourself before reminding you of that.”

“I do know that,” Kurt replies smiling at the screen, “And I will tell you about it. I just need some more time.” He can see that both of them look intently at their screens to see if he’s telling the truth and that he is really okay, but they concede easily. Partly, Kurt suspects, because they will see each other in a few weeks since they both agreed to come to New York City for Thanksgiving.

 

When Thanksgiving finally rolls around, Kurt is nervous. He’s cleaning the place like never before to keep himself busy. He asked both of them if he should pick them up but Mike and Quinn both said that they could find their own way to Kurt’s place. Quinn has been there before and is sure that she can find it, and Mike told him that he wanted to find the apartment on his own but that he would call if he got lost.

That leaves Kurt with nothing to do but wait for their arrival. He keeps walking around, moving the things on the coffee table, fluffing up pillows, making sure everything is clean.

Santana watches on in amusement, teasing him and shaking her head at him, sometimes at the same time.

“It isn’t getting any fluffier,” she says as he reaches out to a pillow that he has had in his hands at least five times already.

“I know…” Kurt says dropping his hands to his side. “Damn, this feels even worse than when I was crushing on Blaine before we were dating.”

“Of course it does,” Santana says. “That pint-sized gel head was not even close to your league so he should have been happy that you gave him any attention at all. Quinn and Mike are still not as good as you but they’re getting close.”

Kurt snorts. “You flatter me.”

“And you know it.” Santana smirks. “It’s so funny to see you so nervous.”

“It doesn’t feel so funny.” That Rachel is grocery shopping is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a good thing that she isn’t around to see him this nervous and that she’s getting the last things they need for tonight’s party. But if she was here, Santana would not be making fun of him so much.

“You know, I am wondering what you’ll do when you open the door. With how antsy you are, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’d jump the first one to walk through.”

“As if I would do that,” Kurt says.

“Probably not,” Santana says, “But now you’re thinking about it.”

And he can’t deny that. Actually, he’s thinking of them a lot. Not specifically jumping them but seeing them, holding them, touching, kissing… He feels his cheeks heat up a little. And it’s not only thinking sometimes of Mike and sometimes of Quinn. No, he also thinks of both of them, together. Those are the thoughts that his heart reacts to the most. The rest of him too, if he’s honest with himself.

“Aww, you’re blushing,” Santana mockingly coos. “Now don’t think about it too much, you don’t want to be too happy when you greet them.”

He glares at her but it doesn’t have much effect. She just grins at him.

Then there is a knock on the door. Kurt freezes, looking at the door like it’s going to bite him. Santana snorts and gives him a shove towards the door. “Come on, Hummel. Get a grip and let your guest in.”

Kurt shakes himself out of it. Santana is right. He takes a deep breath, squares his shoulders a little and opens the door. On the other side stands Quinn with a big smile on her face.

“Hi Kurt,” she says stepping forward and wrapping her arms around him. Kurt gets a big smile on his own face and can’t do anything but pick Quinn up and swing her in a circle making her laugh.

“It’s so good to see you,” he says as he puts her down. Before she can do so herself, he picks up her suitcase and closes the door behind her. “Had a good trip?”

“Sure did,” Quinn says quickly hugging him again. Then she notices Santana.

“Hey Q.” Santana greets Quinn while walking towards them.

“Hey Santana.” Quinn says and she gives her a quick hug as well. “You’re looking well.”

“Yeah, well, New York is my kind of place.” She sniffs. “You’d know that if you paid attention to any of the inhabitants of this apartment when you’re on Skype.”

Kurt sees that Quinn blushes a little. That makes Santana look at him with a meaningful look. Kurt does understand what she means ( _how could he not?_ ), but he’s not getting his hopes up. He isn’t.

“Come, let’s put your bag away,” Kurt says leading Quinn to his room with a hand on her lower back. He takes a moment to glare at Santana in warning but she’s looking back with an smug smile. _‘Told you so’_ are the words she mouths at him.

He ignores that for now as he and Quinn walk into his room. The bed is freshly made and there are two air mattresses on the ground. “The bed is all yours,” he tells her.

“Kurt…” she says, “I can’t take your bed.”

“Sure you can,” Kurt says smiling at her, “I insist.”

She shakes her head at him. “Such a gentleman.”

“Isn’t that what any man should do when a lady visits his house?” Kurt asks her adding a tad of an air to his voice.

Quinn pushes softly against his shoulder. “Idiot.”

They both turn at the sound of another knock on the door. They share a smile before they practically skip over to the door. Kurt opens it and this time it’s Mike on the other side. Kurt and Quinn make him stagger a little backwards as they launch themselves at him, hugging him tightly.

“I’d like to breath,” Mike tells them but he hugs them back just as strong.

“Aww, so cute,” comes Santana’s voice from where she’s perched on the couch.

“Hello to you too, Santana,” Mike says as he lets go of Quinn and Kurt. “Come here and let me give you a hug too.”

While Mike gives Santana a hug, Kurt quickly grabs his luggage. “Hey!” Mike says when he notices. “I can carry my own stuff.”

“But you don’t know where to put it,” Kurt counters, hurrying into his room and putting the bag next to Quinn’s suitcase.

After moving back into the living room and giving his guests something to drink, Quinn, Mike and Kurt sit down on the couch. Santana sits down with them too, looking at them like they’re animals in the zoo. Kurt keeps shooting her glares but she keeps ignoring them.

Okay, there might be something to look at. Without really thinking about it, they sit close together. Quinn is in the middle and the boys’ legs are touching hers on either side since they’re slightly turned towards each other. As he notices it, Kurt thinks about moving away but he mentally shrugs and decided that Santana’s looks don’t matter.

“I really like this place,” Mike says looking around. “I’ve seen it a lot over Skype, but being here is very different. It looks even better.”

“Thank you,” Kurt says beaming at Mike. “We did our best.”

Yeah, Kurt is happy that they’re here. He might be nervous but it feels so good to have Mike and Quinn close again.

 

It’s close to an hour later when Rachel walks in, hands full of bags from the store. She’s not alone, though.

“Hi everyone,” she says as she walks in. “Look who I found wandering around the neighborhood.”

They all turn to look at the door and before Kurt can register who’s standing there, Santana is up on her feet. “Britt-Britt!” she exclaims. “What are you doing here?”

“Lord Tubbington said that New York was a good place to be this Thanksgiving,” Brittany says before wrapping her arms around Santana. “And he’s right, because you are here! I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too,” Santana says softly but everyone can hear her.

Then Brittany notices that Santana isn’t the only one home. She squeals and launches herself at Kurt. “Kurtie!” He was in the process of picking up one of the grocery bags when she knocks him over onto his butt, and before he can really realize what’s happening, Brittany is on his lap and hugging the stuffing out of him. Since he’s practically trapped, he can’t do anything but hug her back.

“Hi Britt,” he says.

“Hi Kurt! I’m happy you and Santana live together, now I can see some of my favorite people at the same time!”

“Well, I have good news for you, then,” Kurt tells her. “If you look behind you, you’ll see that Mike and Quinn are visiting as well.”

That makes her get up and bounce over to them, giving both Mike and Quinn a big hug as well.

“I’m so glad I listened to Lord Tubbington,” Brittany says spinning in a circle. “Four of my favorite people in the whole world, all in one place.”

Rachel pouts as she understands that she’s not included. She starts to protest but a quick glare from Santana silences her. “I have bad news, though,” Santana says and the glare morphs into a slightly evil grin.

“Oh?” Quinn asks a little hesitant at the look on Santana’s face.

“You’re all going to be put to work. Time for party preparations!”

 

It doesn’t surprise him that out of the three of them living there, Kurt is doing the most work. Again. He’s gotten used to it by now, he supposes. Santana and Rachel helped moving the furniture to the right places before dropping down and gossiping about someone from the Diner. It could be worse. To be honest, it’s better if they don’t help with the food. A year ago he would have said that he trusted them as far as he could throw them, but he can throw them a lot further now, so even that isn’t the right description anymore.

And this time he’s not doing the work alone. Brittany is busying herself with decorating the place. At first Kurt had his doubts, but then he thought about the people coming. Isabelle and her friends are a colorful and eccentric bunch, so Brittany can’t do something that’s too out there for them. _Probably._ He looks over his shoulder for a moment. He watches as she gets a box out of her suitcases. When she opens it up, it reveals almost a zoo of bright colored origami animals. He has no idea why she dragged that with her but decides it is better if he doesn’t ask and just let her place them around the room.

Mike and Quinn are helping him in the kitchen. They’re making dinner and snacks for the evening at the same time, moving around each other, but somehow not in each other’s way. Kurt is slightly grinning at how well they work together.

He also can’t resist touching them. Just a hand on Quinn’s back as he reaches for something close to her or softly bumping his hip against Mike while they’re laughing together. Nothing really special, but he lingers a little, just making the touches last a little bit longer. Partly because he really wants to touch them but also to see their reactions to it.

He really likes how Quinn blushes a little. A slight red color rises to her cheeks and Kurt thinks it looks really good on her. And he likes that he’s the one that makes her blush. She also looks at him from under her lashes when she thinks he’s not looking.

Mike on the other hand, looks at him in curiosity. Not disgust, not like he doesn’t want Kurt so close. There is even something in Mike’s looks that make Kurt feel like his touches are maybe, dare he think it, welcome.

And because he is so aware of them, Kurt can see the small interactions between Quinn and Mike. Simple small touches and gazes that they don’t seem aware of doing, but he can see that they’re appreciated from both sides. As Mike wraps an arm around Quinn’s shoulder she smiles up at him and when she puts a hand on his arm, he falters in what he is doing for a short moment.

For a moment Kurt just stares at the two of them. What he sees, and what he feels, is giving him a good vibe. Maybe, _just maybe_ , his thoughts about the three of them together, aren’t _that_ farfetched.

Santana gives a loud cough behind him, startling him out of his thoughts. He turns to look at her and she wiggles her eyebrows at him. In turn he tilts his head at Brittany and grins a little at Santana. Santana puts her hand up, understanding the point he is making.

Then he turns back to his preparations. The food isn’t going to cook itself.

 

The party is a blast. The people that visited the year before are all there again (barring Brody, of course), clearly having had a great time. After making sure it was okay, they even brought a few extra friends over. Isabelle came in early and Kurt was happy to introduce her to Quinn and Mike. Brittany was also happy to meet Isabelle, saying Isabelle is _“like a fairy, beautiful and making my dolphin’s wishes come true.”_ And after Isabelle complimented her origami cat, Brittany was sold.

Looking over, Kurt smiles as he sees Brittany sitting on Santana’s lap looking intently at the paper in her hands as she’s making another cat for Isabelle to take home. Santana is smiling contently as she’s talking to the people sitting next to her.

He turns, searching the room and sees Rachel happily chatting away, not a care in the world. Looking further, he finally spots the people he was looking for. Mike and Quinn are in the kitchen leaning against the counter and against each other. Kurt goes over to them, moving around a group of dancing people. When they see him coming towards them, they both smile at him, making Kurt’s heart beat a bit faster. When he is close enough, Mike reaches out and pulls him close, wrapping an arm around his waist, mirroring the way he’s holding Quinn.

“Everyone having a good time?” Mike asks him.

“Yes, I believe so,” Kurt answers. He’s glad everything is going so well. A party a year ago is no guaranty for this time, but everything is going well. People are chatting and dancing and enjoying themselves.

“You did good,” Quinn tells him reaching out and squeezing his arm. Her hand slides down his arm and grabs his hand. She doesn’t let go and neither does Kurt. She looks at him with a soft smile, which, in combination with him leaning against Mike’s body, makes Kurt breathe a little faster. Then he feels that Mike starts to stroke his side lightly. He looks up in slight surprise. Yeah, he was getting a good vibe, but this is different.

This feels wonderful. Mike looks intently at him and Kurt feels his cheeks heat up. Kurt licks his lips when they suddenly feel dry, making Mike’s gaze settle on his mouth. He stares for a moment before looking in Kurt’s eyes again. He leans in a little, then tilts his head in question. Kurt swallows. He doesn’t need words to understand what Mike is asking. His eyes shoot to Quinn for just a second, and she squeezes his hand in response, looking at the both of them just as intently as Mike looks at him.

Just as Kurt starts to lean in, closing the short gap between him and Mike, they are interrupted.

“Kurt, darling!”

There is a small chorus of disappointed sighs coming from the three of them as they turn towards the voice.

“Phoenix,” Kurt says. He plasters a smile on his face for the man standing in front of them, who is twirling his impressive moustache.

“Wonderful party, Kurt,” Phoenix says. “I’m afraid I have to leave. Going to visit some family and I have to leave way too early. But I couldn’t not come when you said you were doing this again.”

“I’m glad you could be here for at least part of the night,” Kurt says a little more sincere. Phoenix is a kind man and he can’t help his bad timing.

“Thank you for having me, darling,” Phoenix says. “I’ll see you around, okay? And have great evening.”

“You have a good trip!” Kurt says and finally releases Quinn’s hand to shake Phoenix’. When Phoenix leaves, he heaves out another sigh. The three of them stand there in silence for a while. The intense moment is broken.

“Rain check after the party?” Kurt asks in the end, giving the others a small, shy look.

“Yeah…” Mike mutters. “Less people around then.”

 

It’s half past two when the last guests finally leave. There is a mutual but unspoken decision to leave the clean up to the next morning. No one is in the mood to do it now. Rachel is almost sleeping while standing up and Santana and Brittany are attached at the lips, not even acknowledging the others in the room. Kurt takes a moment to make sure that Rachel actually reaches her bed. Then they all get dressed for bed themselves. They’re not going to sleep just yet, they all know that, but getting ready to sleep seems like a good idea. Mostly to delay the discussion that they all know is coming. While the happenings earlier in the evening were a good indicator, the mood is different now.

But before long, the three of them are seated on Kurt’s bed. While the tension before was intense in a good way, now it feels slightly awkward. It’s Quinn who eventually breaks the silence.

“Maybe you should just pick up where you left off,” she says and Kurt thinks she’s only half joking. He feels himself blush and glancing at Mike, he can see that the other boy has a similar reaction.

“Well, if Mike wants to…” Kurt mutters. Mike looks at him and slowly nods. Kurt takes a deep breath and scoots over, heart almost beating out of his chest. He puts a hand on Mike’s jaw, giving him time to move away, but instead, Mike just moves closer. Then their lips touch.

It feels wonderful. Mike’s lips feel great on his, but there is an even bigger flood of euphoria. _He’s kissing Mike!_ Mike isn’t pushing him away, Mike is kissing him back. And, under the euphoria, there is the feeling of contentment, of rightness.

When they pull back, all too soon, Kurt thinks, they look at each other. “Well…” Kurt mutters. “If you didn’t get the message, I kind of really like you, Mike.”

Mike grins. “That’s good,” he says, quickly giving Kurt a peck on his lips. “Because I like you too.”

“There is one big problem, though…” Kurt says moving back. “I’m also falling for someone else.” He looks at Quinn, who is looking at them, all kinds of emotions running over her face. There is a weird mix of resigned happiness, dejection, something that may be arousal, and at Kurt’s words, hope.

“It doesn’t have to be a problem,” Mike says, “Because if I’m reading the signs right, we’re falling for the same person.” Kurt looks back at Mike, who smiles at him. “Go on,” he says giving him a slight push in Quinn’s direction.

Well, Kurt doesn’t need to be told twice. He looks at Quinn’s face as he moves over and he’s glad to see that she’s starting to smile again. He stops a few inches away from her. “Hi,” he whispers.

“Hi,” she whispers back.

“You okay?” he asks.

Her smile widens. “I will be if you kiss me.”

And so he does. He wasn’t certain what to expect since he has never kissed a girl that he was attracted to, but it isn’t _that_ much different from kissing a boy he likes. The biggest difference is that Quinn’s lips are softer. But it feels just as wonderful as kissing Mike. The kiss is a bit more chaste, though just as intense and all consuming.

When he moves back, he just sits there for a moment, processing that he just kissed both Mike and Quinn. Not one of them, no, _both_.

“You okay, Kurt?” Quinn asks a little concerned.

Kurt grins at her. “Yes. Really okay.” Then he reaches out, grabbing Mike’s arm and pulling him closer. “Now you should kiss each other.”

“That will get no objection from me,” Mike quips. Quinn giggles while pulling Mike in and then they are kissing. Kurt tilts his head, watching them slightly in awe. They’re beautiful. They’re both good looking on their own, but together, it’s even better. And it’s hot. Just as hot as kissing them himself.

As Quinn and Mike end their kiss, silence descends again. “While that was fun,” Kurt says softly, “I think we need to talk now.”

“I agree,” Mike says. “And I want you to know that I really like you. Both of you.”

“I think we figured that out,” Quinn says with a soft smile. “We all like each other. The question is if we want to do something with that. Something more than kissing today.”

“I do,” Kurt tells them. “I don’t know how it’s supposed to work with there being three of us and all of us living in different states. But I still want to give this a shot.”

“Good,” Quinn says, “Because so do I.”

“Me too,” Mike says.

“Then we will.” Quinn grabs a hand of both of them. “We’ll be a… well, not a couple, I suppose. But we will try being in a relationship, all three of us?”

“Yeah,” Kurt says with a happy sigh. On the inside he’s almost screaming, he’s so relieved and glad that they want the same thing as he does. Then he yawns. He glances at his clock and sees that it’s getting close to three o’clock.

“Maybe we should get some sleep,” Mike suggests, “We’ll be here for a few days. We have time to talk this through.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Quinn says, “But I’m still not taking your bed, Kurt. It’s yours, so sleep in it.”

“No, you’ll sleep here,” Kurt insist. “I can’t let my… my girlfriend, sleep on the ground.” He likes how that sounds. And he’s clearly not the only one if the smiles the others are wearing are any indication.

“Huh, I have a boyfriend and a girlfriend,” Mike says with a grin. “Sounds a little greedy, but I like it.” Then he sends a conspiring look at Quinn. “You know, we should just make sure Kurt can’t leave the bed. We both get in on a side of him.” At the resulting silence he adds; “Just sleeping.” He gives a small shrug. “No matter how things go, we’re not going to be able to spend tons of time together. I want to spend the time we _do_ have close together.”

Kurt has to admit that Mike has a point. And to be honest, sleeping with Mike and Quinn in his bed sounds like a really great idea. “Yeah, you better make sure I’m going nowhere.”

They all slide under the covers. Kurt is on his side, Mike behind him, spooning him, and Quinn in his arms. And it feels unbelievably good.

“We’re truly going to figure this out, aren’t we?” Quinn asks wrapping her arm over Kurt’s side to also reach Mike.

“Yes, we are,” Mike says and the conviction in his voice makes Kurt smile. They will.


End file.
